A Little Moody
by JackPotr
Summary: Interference in the bond Harry and Hermione share force them in different directions with no hope of reconciliation. Harry gets help from those who should have stood with him from the beginning and makes some friends who will help him fulfill his destiny. Hermione reacts in the extreme. Bad AD/MW/RW. Hard to categorize as it has a little of everything.
1. Chapter 1

A Little Moody

They were thrown together after the third task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Both were in the hospital wing for an extended stay and while one complained about that fact, the other was grateful because it meant he wouldn't be subjected to the stares or even worse, the questions.

Harry Potter gained a lot of respect that night. Cedric Diggory owed him his life. Harry reacted quickly and threw himself at Cedric when the dreaded green curse was heading his way. The body check managed to push Cedric out of its path and into a headstone which knocked him out. It happened so fast that the curse was thought to have hit its mark. It was that act which probably saved Cedric's life at least twice. Once from the curse and again when the Death Eaters thought he was dead instead of knocked out and left him alone from that point on that evening.

Things didn't go so well for Harry though. He was tortured, bound, and used in a dark ritual which brought Voldemort back to a body and that was when the night of horrors really began. Forced into a duel with the Dark Lord, Harry only managed to stay alive. The tortures and curses inflicted on him were enough to kill a lesser person. He fought through the pain in a moment of distraction of his captors and made his way back to Cedric's unconscious form. With the last of his strength, he lay across the body of his friend and summoned the cup. It was fortunate they vanished when they did because as soon as they were gone, the tombstone they were against was hit and destroyed by a flash of green.

As soon as they arrived, Harry passed out from exhaustion. He had taken a lot of abuse that night and his magical core was running dangerously low. The headmaster and staff did the only thing they could do and took the two boys to the infirmary. Cedric got out the next day by lunch after informing the headmaster that they were portkeyed away and then attacked but not much else and by whom. Cedric arrived in the Great Hall to a hero's welcome. He went along with it thankful that he survived the night but since he was unconscious, he didn't know the whole story and just how lucky he was. He never gave Harry a second thought and no one bothered to ask about Harry. It was almost as if Harry ceased to exist in the school. If Harry had been awake, he would probably relish the lack of attention after being subjected to so much scorn and hate all year.

The only person who gave any thought to Harry was his once best friend but the thought quickly left her mind just as it had all year. She knew something was wrong but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what it was. Little did she know that Dumbledore and Snape wore small smiles as no one ever brought Harry's name up. Their plan to completely isolate the boy was working perfectly. Unfortunately for them, a large wrench was about to be thrown into their plans. A bond would soon reform between four people that would be the catalyst to change the magical world.

Cedric's reappearance brought the excitement back up in the school after the pall that was cast on the population as each champion had been taken to the hospital ward for unexplained reasons the previous night and no one except Harry knew the entire story of the night. Cedric had a vague recollection of the events but at the moment, things were still a bit fuzzy which Madam Pomphrey said would improve over the next few days. As the excitement grew once again around the champions, they were swept up in the adoration and Harry Potter lay forgotten in as close to a magical coma as possible.

**ALM**

In a staff meeting that afternoon, Albus suggested the presentation ceremony happen the next night with Mr. Diggory being awarded the trophy. Everyone agreed although Minerva voiced her dissent with this decision.

"What of Potter?"

Albus sat there for a minute looking at his senior staff and the heads of the other schools. "Mr. Potter will more than likely not awaken before the planned departure of the other two schools. I don't feel it is fair to them to be forced to wait while Mr. Potter recovers from whatever put him in that condition."

Severus smirked. "Yes, we pander to his ego enough as it is. I for one feel that leaving him out of the ceremony may start to bring some humility back to the boy." The other two heads of houses reluctantly agreed with the plan while Minerva scowled at how her lion was being treated.

Albus nodded. "Yes, you have a point." He glanced around at the others in the room and saw they all felt the same way. "We wouldn't want the boy to become too headstrong from his successes. We will hold the ceremony tomorrow night which will allow our guests to return home."

As Minerva sat there listening to the plans for the awards ceremony, a plan of her own began to form in her mind.

**ALM**

The next night, everyone gathered in excitement at the event in the Great Hall as Harry Potter still lay asleep in the hospital ward. At this point, even his once best friends were lost in the excitement of the night and no thoughts of Harry were considered by the majority of the school's population. Harry and Mad-Eye were the only people left in the hospital wing and were both still kept asleep under the influence of the dreamless sleep potion. The treatment wasn't influenced by any outside interference. The decision clearly resided with Madam Pomphrey who felt it was the best thing for her patients. The only person to come and check on the patients in the last few days was Minerva and it confused her as it seemed the rest of the school seemed to have forgotten all about Harry. Madam Pomphrey knew something was off as Harry had never spent any time in her care without Miss Granger hovering nearby.

It had been the same when Miss Granger was petrified. Harry was never far away and even then, she could see the bond that was forming between the two of them. She hadn't heard of any problems between the two of them but she also tended to stay in her ward and not join in on the gossip her colleagues were known to engage in. But she was getting worried now. The bond shared between Harry and Hermione was strong and saw them through so much and she had used it on several occasions to aid in their healing. She really needed that bond now to speed up Harry's recovery but the girl hadn't made one single trip to her ward since Harry got there. Her curiosity and aggravation were getting the better of her and it was time for some answers. Sadly, she couldn't get those answers right now as she maintained a policy to always be in the ward when she had patients. She would have to wait for Minerva to come check on her charges before she could ask the questions that were troubling her.

Later that afternoon, Minerva came by the ward to check on Harry and Poppy was waiting for her. "Minerva, is Miss Granger alright? You know as well as I do that neither has ever taken being separated from the other too well and I haven't seen her yet."

Minerva sighed and motioned towards Poppy's office. Once they sat down, Minerva took a deep breath. "Something is not quite right Poppy. The trophy was awarded last night and no mention was made whatsoever about Mr. Potter. Not even from his closest friends."

Poppy stared at the wall for a second. "Is Albus up to his games again?"

"I…I think so. Of course Severus is fully behind anything to cause Harry pain but…for everyone to have forgotten about him?"

"Ward, potion, or spell?"

"I don't really know. I've also noticed that Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley the youngest are much closer than ever before. I fear for the bond Miss Granger and Mr. Potter share."

"When did you first notice any changes?"

"They were gradual but began to grow as soon as Potter's name came out of the cup. Of course Weasley's jealousy flared causing a rift…one that I don't think was ever repaired. Miss Granger stayed beside Potter at the beginning but there was something off between them. I would catch Potter looking at Miss Granger strangely at times as if he was confused at her actions. I do know that Potter had no little to no help preparing after the first task."

Poppy scowled. "Then Albus is playing his games again! Minerva…I won't stand back and watch this time. The last time cost that young man way too much."

Minerva sat back and thought about Sirius being kissed last year and Snape's gleeful expression once the deed was done. She never saw it in person but had heard of Snape using the event to inflict emotional pain on Harry. She wasn't sure who would kill the bastard first, her or Harry. "I agree…what do you suggest?"

"What I suggest is reuniting two or three family members! It's time Harry had someone there for him."

Minerva paled. "You ask a lot. You know of his enemies and why things were done that way."

Poppy scowled. "And yet…you would leave your grandson all alone when he has the two best possible people right here to help him."

"Alastor will never agree. He says he has too many enemies to subject a family to that. It's why we sent Lily away."

"Harry has plenty of enemies as well. I can see it in your eyes that you know it's what needs to be done."

"I know…but convincing Alastor will be difficult."

"Just admit you're scared."

"Your damn right I'm scared! I terrified of what Harry will think of us when he finds out."

"I can understand that but Harry is pretty level headed. He'll understand…eventually."

"Yes…I realize that."

"Then what has you so afraid?"

"Alastor. He'll be furious with me for not figuring it out."

Poppy chuckled. "Yes…I wondered how the two of you could be in the castle together and not…you know."

"I thought he'd finally tired of me."

Poppy snorted. "That's a good one. Alastor and Minerva not disappearing and then going at it like rabbits. James and Lily were the same."

"I know…I should have seen it but…there was just so much going on and Harry…he was in trouble and no one was helping and I couldn't. I was so scared for him."

Poppy nodded. "I can understand that but its time to make things right for Harry. He needs you both more than anything now. He's got power in abundance…but he just needs the skills to go along with it. I can't think of anyone better to give that to him."

"I'll convince Alastor if he forgives me."

Poppy chuckled. "Yes…you have that something that always makes Alastor see your way on things."

Minerva pinked a little at the innuendo. "Except that one time. So what's your plan?"

Poppy smirked. "I'll keep them sedated during the day and let them work together at night while everyone is in bed. That'll give them a chance to come to terms with everything and hopefully make plans to do what needs to be done."

"Let me know when and I'll be here to help."

Poppy nodded. "Tomorrow night at eleven. We can start then as they should be recovered enough by then to be woken and everyone else will be asleep."

Minerva nodded. "Mind the portraits."

Poppy chuckled. "Why do you think I only have portraits of matrons and healers in here? Despite the advice they can offer, our healer's oaths are still enforced even in death."

**ALM**

It was a good thing that there were silencing wards on the hospital ward as there was a lot of yelling and screaming to be hidden. At that point, Poppy was glad she held all the wands as this could have gotten bad. Once the secret was revealed, Harry let out his anger. Most of his anger was directed at his grandparents for leaving him at the Dursleys and never stepping in to help. He was also angry at the way things had played out this year at school and it scared Minerva and Poppy a little to think that they had more to tell him.

It was the first time that anyone at Hogwarts knew the true story of Harry's life at the Dursleys and while they had been at Hogwarts for most of his adventures, they didn't know all the details and it left both Minerva and Poppy in tears.

Alastor was just angry. He was angry at Albus and Minerva for leaving Harry there. He was angry at himself for hiding behind his job to _protect_ his family. He was angry at himself and Minerva for sending Lily off so many years ago. And he was angry at Minerva for not figuring out that it wasn't him this whole year.

Minerva had her own anger issues and they exploded along with the rest. The emotional storm lasted several hours as they exhausted their pent up rage and frustration on each other until it left the three of them laughing. None of them knew what they were laughing about but they were laughing all the same. When they stopped, Harry said. "Sirius said I had a temper like Mum…now I know where she got it from."

Alastor looked at him for a minute before bursting out in laughter again. "I guess you do at that but Lily had nothing on Minerva. I remember one time…"

His crazy eye spun and saw the scowling face of Minerva and added. "But enough about that." He mouthed 'later' to Harry and winked at him and it became quiet.

Harry broke the silence. "So what do we do now?"

Minerva spoke. "I have some suggestions but there's more we need to talk about. Harry…I think your friends have been compromised. I don't think it best to trust them at least for now. I know you've seen the changes in Hermione."

Harry nodded.

Poppy finally spoke. "I think Albus has been interfering again. While you were asleep, I did a full workup on you and I found so many charms and blocks that I'm amazed you can even function. Minerva and I have worked up a tentative plan if you'll both agree to it. We felt that you need to be trained by your grandparents this summer. Once we remove all the blocks and other controls, we think you'll progress quickly and be in better condition before the new term starts."

"I'm not going to even ask about what was done to me if you can get rid of it. I'm assuming Dumbledore and Snape?"

She nodded. "They're the only ones who've had that kind of access to you."

Minerva joined in. "I've already overheard that they plan on isolating you this summer so we won't have that to worry about."

Harry looked at Moody with a smirk. "So what do you think…grandpa?"

"Aye…I'll train you but first I want to see what you're capable of. Minnie….can you get my pensieve from my trunk and bring it? I think its time we saw what happened that night for ourselves."

Harry spoke up. "I can take care of that. Dobby?"

POP

"Master Harry calls Dobby?"

"Hey buddy…can you go to Moody's trunk and get his pensieve? With his permission of course."

Moody nodded as Dobby popped away.

Minerva asked. "You have your own elf?"

Harry smirked. "More or less. We've got an agreement. He uses my magic for an anchor and he keeps watch on things for me."

Dobby popped back in with the pensieve and then whispered in Harry's ear. A frown formed on Harry's face and he didn't say anything but a tear ran down his cheek. He closed his eyes for a second and the adults saw a glow of light on his chest before it reduced and vanished.

Minerva asked. "What's wrong Harry and what was that?"

"Dobby let me know that he found Ron and Hermione _together_. That glow was me severing our bond before her magic started harming her."

"What are you talking about?"

"Hermione found a book on oaths and promises when we weren't talking in third year after the broom thing. It was her way of showing me that I could always trust her and because she felt she owed me after the troll and my sitting with her while she was petrified. What we thought was purity, loyalty, and trust vows somehow changed into a betrothal. Sirius found out about it when he made me his heir at Gringotts before he came to Hogwarts."

Poppy asked. "Why would you even need a purity vow at that age?"

Harry shuffled in his seat. "The Weasleys were making us nervous. Ron was insisting that since we saved Hermione, it incurred a life debt. His demand was that she _do things_ for us in payment. It didn't work because he caused her to be in that bathroom in the first place. If there was a life debt owed, it was to me and I would never ask something like that from her. We did it to protect her. With me refusing to allow it and Hermione always beside me, there wasn't a lot he could do."

Minerva asked. "Not that I don't approve but why would you swear such an oath?"

Harry looked at her and said. "Ginny"

"Why?"

"Even at that age, Hermione and I knew there was something different between us. We didn't really know what but we knew it was special and we wanted to protect it. We guessed that the Weasleys saw our connection and didn't like it. Ever since then, Mrs. Weasley kept referring to me and Ginny as James and Lily reincarnated and that we were perfect for each other. Since her first year, Ginny has climbed into bed with me many times trying to _repay_ me and the only way I was protected was when my magic reacted because of the oath and forced her back out of my bed."

The adults chuckled and Minerva said. "It must be her Prewitt blood. Molly was much the same way. She served many detentions after being caught in a boy's bed."

Mad-Eye said. "That bond should have protected Granger the same way. How did Weasley get to her tonight?"

Harry looked out the window for a minute as sadness crossed his face. "Whatever was done, it weakened the oath's defenses. I've been able to feel the bond dying since Christmas as if someone was slicing off a little bit at a time. Evidently their being together tonight weakened it enough to where I could sever it without any real harm coming to me. Don't get me wrong, I felt it but it had nothing on the cruciatus. I can only assume that it was the Headmaster's plan to keep her away from me. It looks to have succeeded as has everything else he planned for my life.."

Poppy placed a hand on his shoulder. "For what it's worth Harry. I'm sorry. I know how much she means to you."

He sat there for a minute before taking a deep breath and steeling his resolve. It was just another loss in a long series and it all somehow began with Dumbledore. "It doesn't matter anymore Madam Pomphrey. What was broken cannot be repaired since it was tied to our virginity. Even if it wasn't her intention, my magic will never accept her again due to the broken oath and bond. We made that part of the oath."

Harry turned and his eyes locked on Mad-Eyes'. "Can you get me away from all this?"

Moody nodded. "Aye son….that I can promise you as we have several ways to go about it."

For the first time in his life, Harry saw a way out of his predicament. "Okay…I'm all in."

The two ladies took their leave and left the men to do what they needed to do. They agreed to meet again the next night to begin planning their way of getting Harry away from his relatives so that they could achieve what they needed to this summer. Harry and Alastor spent several hours extracting memories of Harry's adventures since coming to Hogwarts and ending with the graveyard. By the time they were done, Harry was wiped out and Moody told him to get some sleep as he began to view them one by one. He was still be at it when Poppy woke in the morning. After snacking on something, she gave him a dreamless sleep potion to make him sleep during the day. He would only take it because he knew Poppy would be there to watch after him and his grandson since she was one of the few people he actually trusted.

**ALM**

Harry sat straight up in bed mid-afternoon. He was disoriented and in somewhat of a panic because he didn't know where he was. As he started recognizing the smell of Madam Pomfrey's domain, he began to settle a little but his panic abated when he heard a familiar voice.

"Easy there Potter, you're in the infirmary. You're safe."

"Professor Moody?" He used the proper name in case anyone was around and listening to him.

The old Auror chuckled. "I don't think I've taught you anything…yet...and we're alone."

Harry gave him a surprised look.

"Yeah son…yet. If you ever tell anyone I said this…well they'll never find your body but…you handled yourself well in the graveyard. I was proud that you recognized an unwinnable situation for what it was. You didn't lose it and got out of there. Sometimes that's all you can do. I watched the memory several times…I was impressed."

"I was scared shitless."

Moody chuckled again. "Tell you a little secret son…if you weren't…I'd think there was something wrong with you. Hell that snake faced bastard scares me. The thing is…you didn't let it cripple you. I see a lot of potential in you. You're better at some things than most of the new Aurors coming out of their training. Hell you're better than a lot of them who've been at it for a long time."

"Thanks Sir. That means a lot coming from you."

"Now…get some rest and get your head together. I'm sure the dungeon mistress won't let either of us out of here for several more days and I've got some things I want to work out before talking to you about it."

"Yes Sir"

He chuckled again. "Drop the Sir crap Potter. I don't deserve to be called grandpa after the way my decisions affected your life but you can call me Moody or Mad-Eye if you prefer. I think it will make things easier in the long run"

"Yes s…Moody"

"Good man…get some rest."

Moody sat there working on whatever it was he had planned. There were a few times he called for Poppy and she left him with several pieces of parchment one of which was Harry's diagnostic. Harry lay there quietly letting his _grandfather_ work. It was strange and nice at the same time. Before long, Poppy came over and handed him a potion vial. "Dreamless sleep. It should help you sleep until tonight."

"Why?"

"If Albus is on his normal rounds…he should be coming by here in about a half an hour. He can't learn anything from you if you aren't awake."

Harry turned and looked at Mad-Eye. "Take it son. She's right."

"What about you?"

Moody chuckled. "The last time he tried to read my mind…well…lets just say it wasn't all that pleasant for the bastard."

"So he reads minds?"

"Yeah…Snape too…the filthy bastard. Its probably one of the ways they've been using to keep control of you. Don't worry…it's on my list for this summer."

Harry nodded and took the potion and by the time Albus came by, Harry was out cold. When he woke that night, Moody had a rough outline of what he wanted to do. With the approval of Minerva and Poppy, they hammered out the plan to get Harry away from his relatives and Albus. Moody's knowledge of dark magic was going to play a big role in the whole thing as it was decided that to keep their activities hidden, they would have to place a homunculus in Harry's place. To add to the difficulty, this one had to be fully functional and able to carry out Harry's chores as well as be seen by the Order members sent to check on Harry. With Mad-Eye and Minerva being senior members of Albus' Order, it would make it easier but they still had to cover the fact up that the real Harry wasn't there.

After the room got quiet for a few minutes, Harry finally spoke up. "I'm curious about something you didn't say last night. Professor McG...sorry Nana doesn't go by the last name Moody. How'd you keep it all a secret?"

Minerva frowned. "It's complicated."

Harry looked between Moody and Minerva. "So uncomplicate it for me."

Poppy just snorted. "He'll find out eventually so you might as well tell."

Minerva looked to Moody who just nodded. "Well, during the war with Grindelwald, Moody was already a well known and feared fighter. He was married to Celeste. A truly lovely woman and one on my best friends. At the time, I was part of Moody's team as was Poppy as the field medic and Amelia Bones who was just out of Auror training. As you have probably heard, Alastor basically got to pick who was on his team and liked what he saw in Amelia. Anyway...Grindlewald didn't like how our team was decimating his ranks so he tried to stop us anyway he could. He sent numerous teams against us who all failed. He then tried another approach. He went after our families. They came to England under the cover of night while we were in the field. James McGonagall, my husband, Celeste Moody, Darius Bones, and Kieth Pomfrey were all caught unaware and murdered in our own homes."

Harry muttered 'Oh shit'

Minerva heard him and nodded. "We were sent home to deal with the arrangements and our grief. When we went back, Amelia, Moody, and I remained on the team but Poppy just couldn't continue like normal so she quit the team and worked in a field hospital where she was kept so busy that she didn't have time to think."

Harry looked at Poppy who just nodded. He reached out and took her hand and held it. Poppy then sadly said. "All of us were fairly young as you can imagine and none of us were married for long. With the war on, each couple decided to wait until it was over to have children. Sadly that was not to be. When the war was over, I went to Mungos for a while and then eventually took the post here. I was married for life and to me that meant my whole life even though Keith was gone. Here I could care for the children I always wanted to have."

Harry did a rare thing and hugged her. Minerva then started again. I stayed for a while in the Auror corps but my heart wasn't in it anymore. Amelia and Alastor were the only ones to stay long term. Anyway, we came together during the war in our grief and things just happened. We never married because he couldn't bear putting me in danger like Celeste so we've continued our relationship all these years."

Harry chuckled. "So mum was a side effect of a friends with benefits relationship?"

"Yes and no. I wanted children desperately. Alastor did as well but didn't want to put them at risk so..."

Moody grunted. "It was something we never agreed to and Minnie got pregnant, I'm not going to say by mistake because that would be wrong. It was magic that blessed us with Lily but she had to be kept a secret just like my relationship with Minnie. I knew my enemies would go after them for being with me. It was one of the worst arguments we ever had and it last most of the pregnancy. Minnie eventually gave in to me about it but...I doubt she ever forgave me for it. Hell...I couldn't forgive myself for it. Your mum...she was everything I could want in a daughter. Minnie too. We were so proud of her and I...I couldn't show her how much I loved her. (He turned away from them and stared out the window.) I've so many regrets...you, Lily, Minnie...but I'm the crazy assed Moody who doesn't care about anyone or anything except taking down dark wizards."

Harry stood and walked over to Moody and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Everyone has regrets Moody but I think I need that crazy assed former auror more than anything now. Let's do something that can make mum proud of us so that when she sees us again...well she won't try to kick our asses."

"Aye son...that we can do."

**ALM**

In order to keep the illusion of Harry Potter not even existing, while he and Severus were getting the charms and potions in place to help everyone 'forget' about Harry, he had the house elves pack all of Harry's belongings and put them in his office while Harry was still in his 'coma'. To further insure his control over the boy, he loaded Harry's things down with tracking charms so that he always knew where the boy was and if he ran away as he did in the past, he could be easily found.

In order to help facilitate Harry's isolation, Albus took Harry straight from Hogwarts to Privet Drive. Since Harry didn't ride the train, no one thought about him and it left Harry in the dark that he became a non-entity after the third task. Once at his summer prison, Harry was quickly locked in his room while he belongings were placed in his former bedroom, the cupboard under the stairs. Albus only smiled at the tatty old mattress that still remained in the cupboard as he liked it when his plans worked out.

**ALM**

It was the dead of the night as Mad-Eye and Minerva slipped into the house on Privet Drive. Once in Harry's room, both turned to go curse the Dursleys but Harry held them back. "We can deal with them later."

The ritual required Harry's blood and magic to work. The temporary wards Mad-Eye placed around his room allowed Harry to cast the spell without the Ministry knowing about it. No one asked where Mad-Eye got the body for the ritual but after carving some runes into the body's forehead and then the blood and magic added, the three of them left to go to Harry's training location. Harry was told to leave everything behind but couldn't risk losing his father's cloak and a few other personal items he felt were precious. The items he couldn't and wouldn't leave behind were scanned and the tracking charms moved to his bedroom furniture. Harry already knew he would have to leave his wand behind and was okay with it after understanding that his wand would never work properly against its brother. If he were to recover it in the future, he could use it as a tool to tie up Tom while he used his other wand. It was also one of the things that Albus tracked so it was no great loss in Harry's mind since Mad-Eye had already promised to get him another or two.

The homunculus was in Harry's bed as the three of them left. They way it was changing into a likeness of Harry reminded him of a movie he had caught a glimpse of where aliens took a human to fight a war for them and left behind a robot to take his place so no one would know he was gone. It was a gross scene to watch as it bubbled while it transformed. They all thought that with as little interaction as Harry had with anyone during the summer, it would be sufficient.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I may have forgotten in the first but...I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter or make any money from my inane ramblings. With that said, more will be revealed as the story continues as this is not a Hermione bashing story by any means. What it is...well it's kinda hard to explain but it's more like Hermione was being used much like Albus used Harry over the years and her honorable nature will shine through.

There is a pairing which will develop over time and no it isn't Moody...just eww.

Chapter 2

The escape from Privet Drive was the beginning of Harry's training at the hands of his grandfather. Before they could progress very far, Harry would be subjected to a series of rituals and potions to remove any blocks and charms placed on Harry by Albus or anyone else over the years. They knew they were there since Poppy used his visits to the infirmary to scan and catalog everything about the young man. The only thing not fully scanned while at Hogwarts was the scar. She was well aware of Albus' and Severus' ability to read thoughts and didn't want to be caught taking a interest in it. Now that he was away from Albus, Poppy was doing a deep scan on the scar and getting some strange readings from it. She called in the other two for a look and Moody was vaguely aware of what it was. The problem he had was that the only way he knew how to get rid of like this was to destroy the vessel. In this case, that meant Harry and that wasn't something he thought was the right thing to do unless they had no other choice. Alastor knew enough about this type of magic that Harry gained even more of his respect. The kid had fought off the curse his entire life and that only spoke of the power and strength the young man held not only in magic but in willpower and mind.

Knowing he was in over his head, Moody called in a retired curse breaker friend of his who was sworn to secrecy. When they were first introduced, Alastor called him 'Lefty'. Harry guessed that guys were alike no matter what their age or whatever part of the century they grew up in because the man had no left hand. As he would find out over time, his grandfather had some weird friends but their stories were always incredible.

It took a few days to set up the ritual but the scar was cleansed and it began healing for the first time since Harry got it. Instead of the destruction method, Lefty transferred the curse to a tennis ball. When Harry woke from the ritual, he told them his own story which included a certain diary with Moody adding his viewpoint after seeing the memory. It was then they realized that Tom had made more than one. Lefty took his leave but came back an hour later carrying a trunk. It was a lot like Moody's and Lefty spent some time looking through the different compartments before pulling out something that looked like a blender.

Harry asked. "You gonna make me a drink?"

Lefty looked at it for a minute and laughed. "I never thought about it looking a blender. No, this is a horcrux detector. If that bastard made any more, it'll help you locate him."

Harry sighed. "I already knew the thing would be hard to kill but…this is going to make it even harder. What are we supposed to do? Go on a scavenger hunt looking for these things? Those bastards are going to start killing people and the way I see it, me and pop are the only two really standing in front of the guy and I ain't ready yet."

Lefty laughed. "Relax kid. If you'll take the bastard down, me and my crew will search out these things. Hell, we been bored since they retired us. Just like your old grandpa there."

Moody muttered. "I'll show you old."

Lefty laughed. "No thanks. You beat up on me enough when we were younger. I learned my lesson but the facts are the facts. Me and the boys ain't fighters but we can do this and let you guys handle that end."

Harry gratefully said. "Thank you. If you run into problems, we'll be there for you."

Lefty smiled. "I'd like that. Ain't never had Moody at my beckon call. Be a nice change for once."

Moody growled out. "The boy is right. You do this and we'll come if you need us. How much?"

"This one's on me. I got money but ain't had no fun in a while. I'll call it even if you make it better for my grandkids. They start Hogwarts in a couple years and they're half-bloods. Rather see them treated right and not like scum."

"We'll do our best or die trying."

Lefty patted Harry on the shoulder and nodded. "I know you will son. You and that old bastard are a couple of the good 'uns."

Harry walked him out and again thanked him for all his help. Lefty looked over his shoulder to make sure Moody wasn't watching or listening. "You're a good kid Harry. I'm a cranky old man like your grandpa who doesn't like many people anymore but please listen to a piece of advice."

"Yes Sir?"

Lefty leaned closer. "Magical people tend to be stupid and think magic is the only answer. You were raised in the regular world so you know about stuff wizards take for granted. Remember one thing, magic ain't always the answer. A good shot from a pistol will stop a wizard just as fast as an AK. I know Mad-Eye told you to always have a reserve…shields can't stop bullets. My pistol saved my ass more often than I'd like to admit."

Harry nodded. "Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely think about it."

**ALM**

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office with a satisfied expression in his face. The year turned out splendidly for the most. Harry participated in the tournament and Tom was reborn. That alone would have made the year a success but the breaking of the bond between Harry and Miss Granger was the icing on the cake. Under her influence, Harry was learning far more than Albus wanted. His magic was also growing stronger and with her help, Harry was slipping out from under his control. The mere suggestion to Molly about getting Harry together with Ginny was enough for her to get the ball rolling or in this case the potion brewing. She and her children were some of the best pawns her had as they would do anything for him and to have a chance at Harry's inheritance. The best part about it was that his hands were basically clean of the whole act which was the way he liked it just in case things went pear shaped.

The depressed state Harry was in when he took him home allowed him to think Harry would be even easier to control next year. With Ronald flaunting his relationship with Miss Granger, it ought to drive Harry even deeper into his depression and would more than likely be even more susceptible to being pushed along in the direction Albus needed. He knew what was coming next. Fudge would be using the Prophet to turn the wizards and witches of Britain against them both. He foresaw another year much like the one Harry just had where the whole school would be against him once the potions and charms wore off. It was Albus' hope that he could arrange for Harry to make yet another suicidal run at Tom. He still couldn't fathom how Harry survived all the encounters up until this point. Little did Albus know that all his plans would be for nothing within a month.

**ALM**

Harry spent an average of sixteen hours a day training and studying as Poppy, Mad-Eye, and Minerva were filling him up with knowledge at every moment. The only time he wasn't busy was the eight hours of sleep they demanded of him to adapt and assimilate to all that he was doing. Even when he was asleep, they used that time to teach as they used the muggle method of sleep learning to pour more knowledge into him. Moody also used the time to help him build his mental defenses.

Harry's instructors realized that by the end of the summer, they would have another problem to deal with. Thanks to all the potions he was on, Harry was growing quickly in body and power. The preparation for the tournament the previous year left him far more advanced than his classmates and with the way his mentors were teaching him, he would more than likely be able to take and pass his NEWTS by the end of the year. It was their hope that by the time the next school year ended; Harry would be able to earn several masteries since he was directly under the tutelage of several masters or mistresses in their fields.

His teachers also realized very quickly that with the removal of the blocks, Harry absorbed knowledge at the level Hermione and Lily did. The fact that he was physically advancing as well meant that unlike them, he could actually put these spells into practice and wouldn't have to wait until he was older.

While Moody was teaching Harry how to take people apart, Poppy was teaching him how to put them back together but with a twist. She made it a point to teach him how dangerous using certain healing spells was to a healthy person. Her lessons also focused on precision casting. Harry's aim became so accurate under her instruction that he could cast a tight beamed cutting curse that would destroy an eye and leave the rest of the face blemish free at twenty paces. He also learned the incantations to vanish specific bones such as the spine. Death Eaters couldn't fight if they were paralyzed or just lying helpless on the ground. It was a nasty side to Poppy that she learned during her years in the Auror corps during the Grindelwald fight where their base camps would be attacked and she would have to defend her patients. It earned her a great deal of respect from Harry and explained why she reacted the way she did. He almost apologized to her for the way he acted whenever he was in her care but changed his mind when he realized she preferred feisty patients as long as they didn't turn violent or physical.

**ALM**

The summer passed so quickly for Harry that he never had time to think about his friends or wallow in depression over his, even though it was forced, assistance in Tom getting a new body. By the time his birthday rolled around, there were forces making moves in the magical world that would have a big impact on their lives and not for the better.

Two days after Harry's birthday, the entire Order was called to a meeting. Minerva and Mad-Eye were expected to attend so they left Harry studying as they disappeared into the fireplace and flooed to three other locations before landing at Grimmauld Place. Minerva argued at first but then grew quiet as Alastor's methods had kept their secrets so far this summer and for as long as she could remember. The first thing they noticed was the undercurrent of unease among the other members. Out of everyone, Remus seemed the most upset so they took it to mean it had something to do with Harry. They'd have been nervous if they hadn't just left him on the couch of Moody's hideout.

Albus moved to the head of the table and took a seat signaling everyone that the meeting was to begin. He took in everyone's eyes and began to speak. "In a highly unusual event this evening, Harry Potter and his cousin Dudley Dursley were confronted by and kissed by Dementors."

A wave of shock went through the room and Molly wailed. "Is Harry dead?"

"Not as yet Molly but the prognosis is not good. His body still breathes but he makes no sign of recognition and his magic is…gone."

Remus shouted. "Gone? His magic should still be there even if his soul has been taken."

Mad-Eye growled out. "Not necessarily. It is theorized that our magic is tied to our souls so if his soul is gone, it stand to reason that his magic is gone as well." Little did everyone know that the body was a homunculus and it had just enough of Harry's magic to create a magical signature but not enough to cast a spell. The fact that the ruse worked this well had Moody breathing an internal sigh of relief.

Remus' head was in his hands as he wept. Minerva wanted to tell him that Harry was fine but knew she couldn't. While she maintained her stoic appearance, her mind was actually celebrating that they now had all the time they needed for Harry. His death would throw everyone off, especially Tom and his minions and it would allow Harry and Alastor to strike from the shadows. It was one of the problems she had with this whole thing. She tried to justify Harry's training as giving him the skills to survive but Harry was too much like his grandfather and would be in the thick of it until it ended. She caught Alastor's eye and knew he was thinking the same thing.

Minerva finally asked. "Do the children know?"

Albus said. "Not yet. I thought it best to inform everyone here and then pull the protection details off."

Remus burst out. "Why didn't Harry cast the patronus? He knew how and it was strong enough to protect them both."

Albus sighed. "That is what makes this highly unusual. Mr. Potter had his wand with him but never cast a spell. He always protected those around him before so I don't understand why this time was any different."

Mad-eye and Minerva caught each others' eyes once again. They had the same question. 'Did Albus set this up?'

Moody spoke. "Do we have any idea how Ministry controlled creatures appeared in Surrey tonight?"

Albus nodded. "Yes we do. Severus?"

Snape looked around and sneered at most everyone at the table. His eyes stopped on Lupin for a second as a hint of a smile appeared which wasn't lost on Moody and Minerva. "The Dark Lord managed to get several of them to join his side already. I know that he sent two out on a mission tonight so I don't think it's a coincidence that two happened to appear in Surrey. I dare not ask too much and risk my cover being blown."

Mad-Eye growled out. "Aye…let's not risk _your_ life over the death of a good lad."

Albus raised his hand. "Let's not let the tenseness of the situation get the better of us. With those resources no longer being needed to watch over Harry, I think we can reallocate those efforts into information gathering so that we can further determine how best to combat Voldemort's incursions. My only fear is that without Harry, it may all be a moot point."

It wasn't long before the meeting was closed. Minerva watched as Albus and Molly made their way to the room where the kids were hanging out and followed along. She watched as the kids were told and paid close attention to their reactions. Hermione looked as if she was about to cry and then Ron put his arm around her. His touch seemed to calm her and she looked at him with a sad smile. The others were nonchalant about it but it was Ron who finally asked. "Did he leave a will? He was our best mate and I'm sure he left everything to us."

Even Albus was taken aback by the greedy nature of the boy. He knew he was no saint but the youngest red head didn't even acknowledge the death of his companion for the last four years with any sorrow whatsoever before asking if there was money for him. It gave Minerva an idea but they would have to act on it quickly before Albus went to Gringotts. Minerva glanced at the other kids in the room and saw that they were sad but not enough to indicate the closeness they once shared. They had to be controlled somehow because Hermione and Ginny should have reacted a lot stronger than mere acceptance. The only true reaction in the room was by Ronald. It only confirmed that he was in on whatever was going on.

**ALM**

After seeing all she needed to see, Minerva flooed to the Leaky Cauldron before making her way back to the hideout. Mad-Eye was already there with a laughing Harry. All she heard was "So I'm dead and free?"

Moody chuckled. "It seems that way. You have more time to do what we need to instead of returning to Hogwarts. We can now come at them from the shadows and no one will ever believe a dead man came back to life."

Harry snorted. "Not including Tom right?"

Mad-Eye chuckled. "You know what I mean. Hell no one believes he's back now except those of us in the know. The only reason Albus really does is because of Snape."

Minerva interrupted. "I think we need to make another trip to Gringotts and let them know what's going on. You could write a will and leave some things to your friends if you so desire or not." She then went on the describe everything she witnessed.

An evil grin came across Harry's face. "I'm sure Bearclaw will help with this. He'd do anything to screw Albus over after the interference he ran all these years. Hell, he'd do it just to see his face after all the times he tried to access the Potter family vaults. Thanks for taking me by the way. It was almost as educational as what you guys have been teaching me."

Minerva nodded. "It should have been revealed to you on your eleventh birthday. All we did was right an old wrong for which I find myself unable to not once again apologize for my inaction."

They went to Gringotts as soon as Harry pulled on a robe and his father's invisibility cloak. Upon meeting with Bearclaw, they had a fake will set up which distributed a very little of the assets available to Harry. Since Albus was never the official guardian of Harry in Gringotts' records, he had no way of knowing the exact assets available to the Potter family. The only way he would have known is if he had allowed Harry to read his parents' will and had Harry name him as his guardian. Since Harry did none of this, Albus' attempts of being Harry's guardian were all fabricated with the intention being that if Albus said it enough, the magical population of England would eventually believe it. Thankfully, the Goblins didn't see it that way.

**ALM**

Days later, the homunculus finally expired and after a quick note from Harry, Bearclaw sent the notices out for the will reading of Harry James Potter. Two days later, a conference room at Gringotts was filled with those _closest_ to Harry. Gringotts policy only allowed those specifically named in a will into the reading so once all the greedy looking people were seated, Bearclaw pulled out a piece of parchment.

Albus spoke up. "Excuse me Account Manager Bearclaw but I think I may have the most up to date copy of Mr. Potter's will."

Bearclaw held out his hand for the piece of parchment. It was his intention to verify this so-called copy and as he stared at it for a minute, he had to hold back laughter at Albus' attempt to weave a compulsion charm into the document. Dumbledore must believe in his own legend if he thought his compulsion charm could in any way affect a full blooded Goblin. He made a mental note to summon cousin Flitwick to have him checked over. He read the work of fiction and after a moment to calm his anger, pushed magic through his hands to ignite it. Everyone in the room watched with wide eyes as the will burnt until it was no more than a scrap which Bearclaw placed into a dish on the table. "That copy did not have my clients' magical signature on it therefore it is invalid despite who handed it to me. The copy I have was sworn to me after the end of the school year in my office and signed in blood. From my correspondence with young Harry, none of you have had any contact with him since the last day of school and some even further back than that. If that is all of the interruptions, I would like to proceed with this unpleasantness."

Albus said "My Apologies." It was that moment that most in the room lost their superior attitudes knowing that this day was not going to go as they thought. Albus was also wondering when Harry had the chance to go to Gringotts but then brushed it off as maybe they came to him as he very well knew they were very protective of the Potter heir.

Bearclaw started. "This is the last will and testament of Harry James Potter. Only the people named have been allowed admittance to the reading. Most of this was put on parchment as he spoke so it will not have the normal legalese of a standard will but that does not make it any less binding." The last was said with a glare at Dumbledore.

Bearclaw picked up the sheet of parchment and began to read.

" _I, Harry James Potter, under no duress and of my own free will make this last will and testament to see to the distribution of my effects. If anyone has a problem with what I have left them, you are welcome to come to the other side and talk to me about it for that is the only way the contents of this will can be changed. I'm sure you will be treated with the same courtesy and respect that I have since I entered the magical world."_

Several people in the room shifted in their seats. This was starting to sound not very good at all.

" _Ah…where to start…I guess we can start with Tom Marvolo Riddle…Voldemort…are you there? (There were several gasps.) Yeah...I didn't think the coward would have the stones to show up for this even though it'll probably be his only free shot at the lot of you. Anyway…you already took enough from me so I'm not leaving you squat. I just wanted to see if you were man enough to appear but then we both know you aren't judging by the lack of genitalia I witnessed at your rebirth. By the way Tom…I informed Gringotts that it was you who broke in before my first year. I'm sure by this time they have fined the crap out of you and are looking forward to your next visit. Good luck with that. You may make most of the wizards in Britain piss their pants in fear but I've seen the Gringotts' guards in action and they make your elite Death Eaters look like a bunch of…well pure-bloods. If that was not clear enough then you can use in-bred idiots instead for that is what most of the pure-bloods are."_

Everyone in the room was stunned and Bearclaw chuckled at their reactions. Tom was never summoned to the reading…it was just another slap to the face of his friends. Remus was smart enough to take it for what it was as he shook his head. Leave it to the youngest Potter to pull a prank worthy of his father and godfather and on Albus and the Dark Lord no less.

Harry's whole purpose in this was the hope that Snape would have to report, in detail, everything heard in the will reading. If this happened, things wouldn't go too well for the man who had made his life miserable for the last thirteen years.

" _Hmmm…who's next….I know….Snape Snape Severus Snape. You sir (I use that term lightly.) are the greasiest and slimiest bastard I have ever had the displeasure to meet. Snivelous, there's going to come a day when your mouth is going to write a check your body can't cash. I so look forward to it as I'll be there waiting with Mum, Dad, and Sirius to kick your slimy arse all the way to the gates of hell. I'm sure you'll have plenty of company seeing as all your Death Eater buddies and Order cronies will be there too or will soon be joining you. I also leave you zip as you already took enough from me when you pointed Tom at my parents and then helped get Sirius murdered. I would like to finish with a thought for you. My mother loved me and my father so much that she preferred death over Tom's offer to spare her for you. If that wasn't clear enough, she thought dying was better than living and having your greasy paws on her."_

A lot of eyes were turned toward him as he shifted in his seat but it was obvious he was outraged by the color of his face. Albus was shocked at the things Harry knew and wondered how he found out.

" _Ahh...another good one…Albus I-have-too-many-middle-names-to-make-myself-look-important Dumbledore…I also leave you zilch. It was bad enough what Tom and Snivelous did to me but you just allowed it to happen along with every other bad thing in my life. I've heard that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. If that's the case, I'd hate to see where you're going but I'm sure Lord Hades has a special place all picked out just for you."_

" _Moving on…Arthur Weasley…you were called because…well…I really appreciate everything you've tried to do for me over the years. You've been the father figure I always needed and I appreciate it. Because of this, I'm leaving you G2000. I know it's not a lot but I hope you accept with a heartfelt thank you."_

Everyone began to relax as it seemed the worst was over.

" _To the rest of the Weasleys, you'll just have to hope Arthur shares with you. Mrs. Weasley…I may have spent a total of about three to four weeks at your house and I appreciate the care you gave me but you will never be Lily Potter. I'm sorry if that hurts but no one can top what my mother did for me…ever. At least at this point I get to be with the people who truly cared for me and not because of what they thought I could do for or give them. Bill and Charlie…I only met you once and you seemed alright to me but I don't know you well enough to decide one way or the other. On the other hand…Percy you will always be a prick and I hope that one day you'll get up off your knees in front of the Minister and be the man your father taught you to be. As a side note, I think you might be a whole lot happier if you'd pull that ginormous stick out of your arse."_

The family of red-heads was turning bright red. Bearclaw didn't know if it was from anger or embarrassment and quite frankly, he didn't care. Snape stood. "I wish to be excused. I no longer care to listen to the little egomaniac prattle on about how hard his life was."

Bearclaw stopped and looked at him. "You have that right Mr. Snape but under the terms granted Gringotts by your Ministry, we have the right to make sure none of the proceedings are revealed until the end of the reading. Guards, take Mr. Snape to the dungeons while we finish."

Snape tried to sit back down quickly but the Goblins quickly had him up and out of the room. Everyone looked on in shock but even Albus kept his mouth closed so that he wouldn't end up in the same situation. Snape's expected ranting came to a quick end when one of the guards used the flat part of his blade to knock the potion's master out to stop the noise.

Bearclaw said. "It appears I will have to add another galleon to Mr. Potter's trust. He made a bet with me that Mr. Snape would jump up about that time and decry the pointlessness of these proceedings. Just to let you know…I don't like losing a bet and I hope none of you get to see how I will react to losing to a dead young _human_ again." Bearclaw chuckled in his head. The look of shock on the faces in the room was too much that he almost lost his composure. He knew if he glanced at Minerva…it would all be over so he kept his eyes on the parchment.

" _Continuing…to Ronald Weasley…were you ever my friend? I should ask the same question of Ginevra, Fred, and George. I grew up with no family and in my first year at Hogwarts…I finally had one or so I thought…in you. This past year made me reevaluate a lot of things and all I can figure is that I was set up. I know I can be brash and reckless…I find it one of my most endearing traits contrary to popular belief. I know it served at least two of our group well in the past because if I didn't have that trait…Hermione and Ginny would not be with us now. I guess the both of you lucked out with my death and since I have no heirs…the life debts you two owe me cannot be passed on. Well enough about all that…I leave my brothers and sister…thirty sickles each. If you don't know the significance…I'm sure Hermione can clue you in since she knows everything."_

Ron's face grew red as he only got thirty sickles. Hermione looked shocked that Harry would speak about her that way but knew he was within his rights after what she did to him. The other three had the decency to look ashamed.

" _Speaking of Hermione Granger._ (Hermione paled at this _.) I would have really have liked to talk to you when school ended to find out what I did wrong. If nothing else, I wanted to know so that I would not make that mistake again. Since evidently I died, I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Hermione, I gave you all of me and you threw it away. I was hurt most by your actions and how you broke our oath without even talking to me. If you were unhappy with our arrangement, you could have come to me me I would have released you from it as all I've ever wanted was for you to be happy. I love you too much to ever see you in pain so I canceled the oath and bond on my end and took the punishment for you. I'm sorry to say that with the destruction of the bond, I have nothing left to give you except a few words. "I wish the best in life for you and hope all your dreams come true."_

Hermione was truly crying now and no amount of attention could stop it. It wouldn't matter anyway because the person she was tied to was so jealous and angry that he couldn't think straight at the moment anyway. Albus was afraid of what might be revealed if this continued but Harry had masterfully set the stage and he could only watch the scenes play out.

" _To Remus…I don't really think you need anything to remember me by and I'm pretty sure Sirius left you enough money so you don't need anything I would give you. Quite frankly…you were never there for me so I don't feel I owe you anything. I'm also sure that thoughts of my well being never really crossed your mind but I really don't blame you as no one wants to be saddled with someone else's kid. Besides, the whole idea of you raising a child is just ludicrous since you can barely take care of yourself. I want you to know that I have no hard feelings for you and I wish you the best in life. I hope things turn around for you because I know they have for me since I should now be with the people who actually love and care for me and don't just give me lip service."_

Remus looked gut punched at Harry's words. The worst part about it was that every word was true. With a trail of tears rolling down his face, there was nothing to say so he sat there quietly and was lost in thoughts about how badly he had failed Harry.

It never felt good to be publicly called out on your failures and he had definitely failed Harry and continued to do so with his inaction this past year. Minerva felt sorry for the Marauder but she agreed with Harry in that he made his bed with Harry a long time ago. This past year, Harry gave him the opportunity to be in his life and he had failed miserably.

" _This brings us to the last person on the list. Minerva McGonagall. We haven't always agreed and there were times when I've been angry at you beyond belief but there is one thing I've always remembered about you. Next to Hagrid's gift of Hedwig before my first year…you were the first person to ever show me that I was worth something and give me a truly wondrous gift. There's no event in my life that saddens me more than when the Whomping Willow destroyed the second amazing gift I've ever received. Even after getting the Firebolt…the Nimbus still held a special place in my heart as do you. I don't know if I ever said the words 'Thank You' but I am now. To repay your generosity, I am leaving the remains of my personal vault to the Gryffindor Quidditch team so that they will never go without proper equipment. The only stipulation is that Bearclaw will hold this gold in trust until the year 2003 so that no one currently at the school will benefit from the gift. Their treatment of me this past year was deplorable and I will not do anything to benefit the current students."_

Minerva nodded and pretended to wipe a tear from her eye. Hermione finally spoke up. "What is to happen to Hedwig? I would be honored to care for her since Harry can't."

Minerva managed a small smile. "I'm sorry Miss Granger but I've asked several of the members of the Order and none of them have seen Hedwig. It is my assumption that she either left or chose to follow her familiar to the other side."

Another tear slid down Hermione's face as she gave a nod. Minerva hated telling the half truth since Hedwig was at Harry's side just like she always was. Minerva did smile inwardly at Hermione's kindness. She knew it was what drew Harry and her together in the first place and a trait both shared that made them so well matched. She still wanted to know what happened but also knew with the activities between her and Ronald; things could never go back to the way they were. She also knew despite his statements otherwise, her loss was what hurt Harry the most and truth be told, still did. She knew it was going to take a long time for Harry to heal from the break since even to this day he loved her still.

She hated this whole thing even if it was her idea. Her only consolation with this will was that nothing said this afternoon was a lie which she was thankful for. It may not have been the whole truth but they felt taking a page out of Albus' book was fair play in this situation.

Bearclaw cleared his throat. _"Finally, if there are any other funds I am entitled to other than my trust vault, I instruct Gringotts to continue to handle them in the manner set forth by my ancestors. These assets will be made available to continue the Potter legacy of contributing to charity in perpetuity or until they run out. I also charge Gringotts and specifically the Potter account manager in investing aggressively to increase the funds available. I also name the Potter Account Manager as executor to make sure my final wishes are carried out."_

Bearclaw looked at the shocked faces. Albus was especially pale as the entire Potter fortune was basically given to charity instead of him. He really couldn't say anything as it was his own actions that lead to Harry not knowing of the vast assets held by his family. He hoped that as stunned and shamed as everyone was at the moment, they would not make the connection of Albus' actions.

Bearclaw announced the will reading was over and everyone filed out and eventually left the bank with their heads down. Bearclaw could only grin as he watched his young account holder bitch slap the entire group except for Arthur and Minerva. He poured himself a mug of grog and took a long pull of the harsh drink in celebration. Some days were so much better than others and this one would count as one of the better ones.

After several long minutes of reflection over the reading, he knew it was time to get back to work and pulled another sheet of parchment from the drawer in his desk. He read over it and then pushed a series of runes etched into a tablet summoning the Black family account manager. The supposed last will of Sirius Black was weighing heavily on him after reading the fiction handed him by Dumbledore. He found it too convenient that the old man just happened to have Sirius' will in his possession last year and as it was not his account, wanted to do the verification on it to make sure a certain old man was not trying to screw his client out of even more gold. If the will failed the Black family verification, it would mean that it was either forced or a complete fake. With that thought, he pressed another series of runes asking his warlord's attendance on an important matter. There very well could be a goblin losing his head today if he was in anyway part of the deception and theft.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Nope...still don't own Harry Potter or intend to make money off this. I also wanted to say thank you for all the support.

I intend to post a chapter every 4 days and am in the process of writing chapter 9 so I will plan to maintain that schedule until I run out of material as hopefully I'll be able to stay on task and continue to stay ahead of the schedule.

Chapter 3

September 1st rolled around and the students were boarding the Hogwarts' Express to return to school. Thanks to the spell work done by Albus last term, most would not even realize that they were returning to school without their most famous student. Outside of the Weasleys and Hermione Granger, there were only three students who took notice that Harry Potter was not with his normal group. There were many adults who were there keeping watch and trying to get some answers. Most knew something happened over the summer involving Harry Potter but most of the facts were covered up. As House Potter was a high ranking house, any changes or problems with it were something to pay attention to as it could have far reaching effects on their economy and politics.

**ALM**

Cho Chang was being seen off by Cedric Diggory along with his and her parents. The Diggorys were there because of the rumors that Harry saved Cedric last year during the third task. Cedric never regained his memory of the events that night so they were looking for answers and to offer their belated thanks for Harry's actions that may have been responsible for bringing their son back to them. The Diggorys and Changs were confused at the beginning of the summer when Cedric and Cho had no clue about who they were talking about. It took Amos shoving a picture of Harry in the Daily Prophet and casting multiple 'finite' spells at him before Cedric even knew who Harry was. Amos may have been a proud father which caused him to become somewhat of a braggart at times but he was honorable and if House Diggory owed Harry Potter a debt of gratitude, they damn sure would show it despite the smear campaign going on.

**ALM**

Another pair who was watching the scene was Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. They _were_ aware of the events of this summer but were confused by their son. That same son, who stupidly placed himself in the role of Harry Potter's school nemesis, had no reaction to the news that Harry Potter was dead. It was almost like the boy never existed even though they knew it not to be true. They were also worried because with Harry Potter gone, there was no one to stand against the Dark Lord. They were completely in support of the Dark Lord in the first war but back then, he was charming, he made plans and executed them, and he was so much different than he is today. It was evident to them that Voldemort's time as a wraith took his sanity and that thing that came back was hell bent on the destruction of everything. It was clear Voldemort wasn't human anymore and probably more demon than anything else with the way he took great pleasure in torturing his own subjects instead of taking his anger out on the ones who opposed him. These facts were more than enough to make Lucius feel foolish for working so hard to further the Dark Lord's aims while he was gone. He may not be a good man but even he knew that the destruction of the magical world was assured if Voldemort took over.

Narcissa took Draco to a private healer during the summer and discovered the enchantments placed on her son. Instead of immediately having them removed, she hesitated and decided to speak to Lucius about it. Later they decided to not have the charms removed because he did not possess any cunning and had no filter on his mouth. If he knew, he would brag about it and bring unnecessary attention to himself and their family. They knew that one day Draco's mouth was going to get him killed and it was only the fact that Harry Potter was dead might see him live to graduation.

**ALM**

A girl with long black hair was standing on the platform with her parents and younger sister, Astoria, watching as well. The Greengrass family was like most and knew something concerning House Potter occurred over the summer but all their sources proved to be lacking in information as well.

Daphne was one of the only students who knew what happened at the feast at the end of the Tri-Wizard. It was common practice for her to keep occlumency shields up at all times. She felt the charm wash over her but was able to fight off its effects before they took root in her mind. One of the advantages of occlumency was that she knew what was being attempted. The ring she wore as Heiress to the House of Greengrass also warned her that the drink was potioned so she chose not to drink anything. When she got home, she reported everything to her father and then suggested they take Astoria to a healer to have the charms and potions removed. Her only regret in the whole incident was that she could not get to her sister in time to stop it from happening not that it would have done any good since Astoria's mind shields were not up to the task yet.

It was known throughout the Greengrass home that Daphne had a serious case of 'like' for Harry Potter. She was enthralled by his power and sense of nobility that was so lacking in the house of the snakes. Her neutral stance had caused her problems in her first year but most of her housemates quickly learned not to mess with her in that respect, she thought she and Harry were a lot alike because he too was taunted until all but the truly idiotic learned to not mess with him based solely on the power he could wield.

In her first year, Daphne found it amazing how a freezing charm to the bits would cause over amorous boys to leave her alone and earn her a nickname as well. She was proud of her reputation since even Draco had learned to leave her alone after quite a few examples of what happened when you messed with her. Despite her reputation and the fear she caused most boys, there were times when she wished she was sorted into Ravenclaw as it would have been much easier to approach Harry.

In one of the few times since she learned occlumency, Daphne lost control of her emotions as she gave her parents her report on all that happened during that feast. She cried in her mother's arms as she told the story of how the most noble and courageous of all the students was effectively erased from the minds of everyone in the school and left completely alone by the Headmaster and Professor Snape.

The entire family had been sorted into Slytherin and while they were darker than some, they were staunchly neutral. Although it wasn't acknowledged by the wizarding world as a whole, they knew Voldemort was back. Mr. Greengrass had been approached by Tom's agents during the summer and given the choice to join the Dark Lord or face the consequences. With their options becoming more limited, Mr. Greengrass was at a loss of what to do. He didn't have much faith in Albus Dumbledore long before Daphne told of the events at Hogwarts. With the leader of the 'light' willing to take such action, he absolutely would not trust him now. He had no faith in the Ministry either and only saw Amelia Bones as someone worthy of support. The last option was to follow Voldemort and that was not something he thought he could willingly do. They were aware of his ruthlessness during his first rise and rumor had it that he was even more insane now. Mr. Greengrass knew what awaited his family as any of the choices would see his family dead but not before his wife and daughters had been horribly used by the Dark Lord's thugs even if they were aligned with him. For the Greengrass family, they were seeking a fourth option. That last option revolved around Harry Potter but the problem was that Harry was nowhere to be seen.

Daphne worried as she stood on the platform. Harry's absence from the platform gave her a sense of foreboding because without him, things would be more tenuous at Hogwarts and in Britain as a whole. With the main protector of the students gone, Daphne was seriously considering asking her father to move the entire family to the continent to get away from the rising darkness and send them to another school somewhere far away from England. She took a deep breath. "Father, I agreed to come back but…"

He held up his hand. "I know. Keep us posted and let us know if Potter shows up. We'll hope for the best but plan for the worst."

Her mother pulled her and her sister into a hug. "Be careful and watch out for each other. I expect letters on a regular basis and we will revisit the subject again at Yule."

After giving their father a hug, both girls made their way to the train. He watched them board with fear in his eyes. "I hope…"

His wife laid her hand on his arm. "You've trained them well. We'll see them at Yule."

**ALM**

Amelia and Susan Bones were also watching the platform. The absence of Harry was distressing to them both as like Daphne; Susan was concerned for her safety at Hogwarts since Harry was not spotted. She wasn't about to go ask any of his regular group as she knew they were deep in Dumbledore's pocket.

At one point, she and Hermione were confidants so she knew of the bond and oaths Harry and Hermione took but there were several things that bothered her about last year. The first was Hermione's estrangement from Harry but even worse was when she left him to flounder on his own during the last two tasks. The second was the same thing that Daphne witnessed. Thanks to her aunt, Susan's occlumency shield was very advanced and she too had weathered the charm and noticed the potion.

Her Hufflepuff traits kicked in after that final feast so she went looking for Hermione to get some answers. Susan noticed something was off with Hermione all year but they never had the chance to talk. The times when they did, Ron would show up and tell Hermione she was needed somewhere else. By the time she found her, Susan wished she hadn't. Under pure-blood law, there was nothing she could do as Hermione was being claimed by Ron Weasley in the most degrading way possible. She was bent over a teacher's desk in an unused classroom as Ron took her from behind.

As he was doing this, she could see him pointing his wand at her and chanting some ancient language. She was horrified and never expected Ron to have the intelligence to do something like that or be able to remember such a long and difficult incantation since it was only due to Hermione that he even passed his first few years. What she did see was a light glowing from underneath Hermione's chest as the bond to Harry was dissolved. Susan watched as the claim took the form of black tattoos that grew across Hermione's back and neck. With there not being anything she could do as the ritual had to be consensual, she broke into tears and ran. She was hurting for her friend and the boy who would be devastated by all this. She was also a little scared at the thought of the same thing happening to her even though she would never agree to be 'claimed' by anyone.

On her arrival home, she broke down with her parents who called over her Great Aunt Amelia immediately. Susan told them everything but knew there was little that could be done. It was a nasty secret in the wizarding world of how the muggle-born could be used. It was also something Susan thought Hermione and Harry's bond would protect her from. Her aunt told her that normally it should but it was evident that there had been some heavy tampering with magic in the castle. They were aware of just who was behind it due to the charm Susan fought off in the Great Hall and the unusual interest the Headmaster had in Harry's life.

Amelia spent the summer looking deeper into things surrounding Harry Potter but was met with road blocks at every turn. She was well aware that something concerning Harry happened around his birthday but whatever it was; she could find no information about it. It was evident to her that Dumbledore was forcing others into keeping secrets again. Unlike the Minister, she knew Voldemort was back but could not find any evidence to support or deny her theories. It was also the same with Harry Potter. Absolutely no evidence was just as damning to her as too much evidence. She vowed to leave no stone unturned but at the moment, she didn't even know which field to start looking in.

The only clue she had was a report about a gathering at Gringotts that could have been a will reading. Sadly, the clues died at the door to the bank as they would not comment one way or the other as to the status of Harry Potter. To make matters even more suspicious, all Ministry records concerning Harry Potter were sealed by the Chief Warlock.

Susan turned to her Aunt with fear in her eyes. The trip to Hogwarts was now something sinister and scary for the first time. "You'll be fine Suzy. If the worst happens, use the portkey. My account manager at Gringotts said that it will break though even Hogwarts' wards. It had better since I paid a fortune for it."

"Thanks Auntie. I'll send regular reports."

Amelia hugged her niece. "That's my little detective." She watched as Susan got on the train. She said a little prayer that everything would be alright but with the games being played, she was afraid the ones who were going to suffer the most were the youth of their world.

**ALM**

As the Hogwarts students were boarding the Express, Harry was starting the next phase of his training as he was now under the tutelage of a sensei in a martial arts dojo. His three mentors felt that Harry would benefit from the physical training and learning to make his moves more fluid. It was also an attempt at improving his senses so that he could better feel what was happening around him and help him with his already well above average situational awareness. While he would spend the nine months in private lessons, they were not out to make him a black belt or to become Chuck Norris so the next summer would be the end of those lessons unless Harry chose to continue them. It was hoped the physical aspect of the lessons would help develop his body into more than he was. During that time, the only weapons training Harry underwent was with knives and throwing stars as most of the other weapons would take years to master. As he honed his fighting skills in the dojo during the day, the evenings were spent training with Moody as he continued to add a larger spell repertoire along with more facets to his dueling.

**ALM**

Halloween proved to be its normal glorious day for Harry. It was the day that the parents of many students sat in on the Wizengamot meeting scheduled that day wanting answers. Their concerns were based solely on the fact that none of their children reacted in any way at the smear campaign being brought against Harry in the Daily Prophet. Whether they liked him or not, they always commented in the past and now they acted like they never heard of the young man. The few who were truly aware that something was wrong were behind the rise in interest and hoped to get some answers today.

The Wizengamot convened and with the full support of the parents who were sitting in the body, questions were asked that Albus didn't want to answer. His evasive answers led to Mr. Greengrass standing and demanding truthful answers. His demands led to a majority vote of the Wizengamot who used the magic of the chamber to force him to answer their questions honestly despite his best attempts to disrupt the proceedings. It was the day that the secret came out that Harry Potter had been abused all his life and was controlled by whatever means necessary even going as far as breaking bonds to do so. It was also the day that the world found out Harry was dead after being kissed by rogue Dementors sent by the Dark Lord.

It was during that session that the secret of what had been done to the students at the end of last year was exposed. As a result of his many sins coming to light, Albus Dumbledore was stripped of his Chief Warlock position and his appointment to the ICW for the part he played in the sacrifice of a minor head of a Noble house along with his actions against the other students in Hogwarts.

He did manage to hold on to his position at Hogwarts and only did for two reasons. The first was they didn't have a replacement who was as powerful as Albus was. Even after what he did to the students, the Wizengamot still felt the students were safer from the Dark Lord with Albus in the castle. As far as the parents were concerned, they could live with him remaining in the castle since the Ministry had to appoint a defense teacher this year. The session granted her powers far beyond those of a mere teacher. Her authority in the school was now greater than the headmaster's as she was charged with making sure nothing untoward was going on this year as well as to make sure the standards of teaching were being upheld.

From the looks being sent his way in the chamber, Cornelius Fudge also knew he was on borrowed time. His denial of the rumors of Voldemort's return without the slightest bit of investigation made him look foolish. The fact that he led a smear campaign against a dead young man who he was not aware had died added to this made him look more foolish. He would later learn that the only reason he held on to his position was due to the fact that with the upheaval of kicking Albus out, many felt it did not need to be added to by impeaching the Minister at the same time. It gave Cornelius a little more time to turn things around. Sadly for him, he would be gone within a year as he continued to listen to the same people who put him in this position in the first place.

**ALM**

Albus seethed at his being torn to shreds as many of his former followers renounced the light side and joined the neutral faction. Many swore that if the light side was using dark methods to control their members, they wanted no part of it. Due to the chaos, Mr. Greengrass saw a boost to his faction that was desperately needed. The Longbottom, Bones, Jones, and Diggory houses, to name a few were welcomed with open arms but without Harry Potter, he knew it still would not be enough to combat the Dark Lord's advances.

In one eventful meeting, the balance of power took a major shift away from the point of view Albus had imposed on everyone during his tenure. Many from the light and dark factions would be worried and concerned about the changes taking place while the common witch or wizard saw it as a positive. The neutral faction was well respected and had long been the group in the government that tried to look out for the common witch or wizard. The ones that were worried were so because the power shift just made achieving their agendas much more difficult.

**ALM**

Voldemort was also furious and took his anger out on several of his followers. As Peter was usually the closest to his master, he took the initial brunt of the venting and a half an hour later, two low level Death Eaters dragged his comatose body from the chamber trailing blood and urine behind him. The Dark Lord knew he was now on a limited schedule and would have to advance his plans before he was ready. One thing he did know was that Dumbledore would have to be the first to die. The sheep may be mad at him at the moment but he knew they all still thought of Dumbledore as the greatest wizard alive. His defeat of Dumbledore would add to the already low morale due to Potter's death and at that point, the country would bend to his will much easier or they would see him order England burnt to the ground.

**ALM**

When Albus returned to the castle, he found himself surrounded by utter chaos and quite a few hateful glares. The potion used at the end of last term was only a temporary way to make sure the charm would do its job. With a whole summer to metabolize the potion, it no longer affected the students and once the truth was learned, thanks to the Wizengamot, the charm broke and the truth of the situation came to light.

At first, confusion was the biggest problem at the school but that soon turned to anger when the Daily Prophet showed up in a special edition and revealed the news. For their own safety due to the volatile emotions running through the castle, Albus and Severus never came to dinner. They knew they were more powerful than the students but if enough of them banded together and attacked, they could easily overpower the two teachers. It wasn't out of the realm of possibilities that several teachers would join in with them so they stayed in their quarters for the night.

Daphne and Susan were somewhat vindicated by the revelations but it was still too late as Harry Potter was gone and his companion for the first three years at Hogwarts was under the control of Ron Weasley. Things didn't look good for the factions that weren't dark.

**ALM**

Over the next week, Amelia's investigation began to make progress as some of her Aurors confessed what they were doing in their off time after they lost faith in Dumbledore. With leads now appearing, Amelia was able to act on _some_ of the things she learned from Susan. The problem Amelia faced was that as she got some answers, they ended up leading her to more questions. The best information she received came from the students of Hogwarts who were outraged at what was done to them but more importantly, Harry Potter. Most of their anger was directed at the right people but they were ashamed of themselves for being weak minded therefore making it so easy to allow something like that to happen. Another problem was she needed information that only Harry Potter and his two best friends could provide. When she appeared at the castle to interview Weasley and Granger, she was abruptly rebuffed by Albus himself who told her that his two best friends absolutely refused to talk to her about Harry Potter and their adventures.

From the reports she got from Susan, the only happy person in the castle was Ron Weasley but what fifteen year old boy wouldn't be when he had someone to do him and his homework whenever he wanted. Oddly enough, Susan said the situation was strange as the girl seemed content. It wasn't the first time that potions were thought to be involved with Miss Granger but under pure-blood law, there was nothing that could be done about it. If there were any hint of abuse or neglect, Amelia could step in but Susan plainly reported that the girl was healthy and content.

For the first time, Amelia was finally hearing the stories of Harry's adventures at Hogwarts but they were second hand and not completely accurate. Everything that the young man had gone through and survived was not unlike another historical figure from magical Britain's past. The evidence pointed to the fact that Harry Potter, like Merlin himself, was a child or man of destiny that was said only appeared in dark times. If that were the case, the next bit of information she needed would be in the Hall of Prophecies.

Upon visiting the Department of Mysteries, the Unspeakables revealed there was a prophecy about Harry Potter and the Dark Lord that was told to Dumbledore. It could explain why Dumbledore did the things he did but it still left plenty of questions. One of them was whether Dumbledore was setting the Potter Heir up to die so that he wouldn't eclipse Albus' fame. It wasn't like the man wasn't vain as his robes alone told the story of someone that needed to be the center of attention. All of this was a moot point because the prophecy was still active and if that was the case, Harry Potter was still alive somewhere. So now the question was...where? It was obvious he wasn't in the hands of Albus or Tom so just who had him and what was kissed by the dementor?

She now had a suspicion that the real Harry Potter wasn't there that night. The fact that there was a Harry Potter there meant that someone went to a lot of trouble to leave behind a homunculus. She knew the power was not beyond her and her family magic but other than her, there were very few in the magical world that could pull it off. She was out since she knew she, her brother, or nephew didn't do it. Albus would have revealed it during the Wizengamot session so he was out. Tom was out as why would he go through all that trouble to create the copy only to send Dementors to kill it? Of course Tom had done some crazy things in the past to decrease morale but she still ruled him out because it remained a secret. That left only two people in England who could pull it off and had recent contact with Harry. Alastor Moody and Minerva McGonagall. She smiled at the thought of her old mentor and his paramour. If they were training Harry in secret, then things were a lot better than she could have hoped.

Even with her recent deductions, the case still grew more confusing as the days went on. It became even more so the day Sirius Black's cousin and her daughter, a current Auror, came in to see her. Her investigation of Harry Potter was waylaid by several days as she dealt with the ramifications from that interview. It was during the interview that it was revealed that Sirius was Harry Potter's godfather and a whole new can of worms was opened.

Auror Tonks told her everything she knew about Harry's situation and what the Order was doing to him on Albus' orders. It only added to the information she got previously from the other Aurors that were part of the Order except one. That one Auror, or should we say retired Auror, was currently not taking part of Order activities except for the meetings. Tonks found it strange since in the past, Moody kept his nose into just about everything, It may have not been as bad as Albus but he liked to stay informed about any and all dark activity. In the end, things were pointing back to Moody and his silence and reclusive behavior could be seen as evidence that he was up to something.

Amelia took a day to handle some DMLE housekeeping, in other words paperwork, and to get over her disgust of Albus and the Order before she began to delve into the Harry issue once again. She looked at the last note she made before Tonks showed up to see where to begin again. Her thoughts turned to her mentor and how he was another of Dumbledore's compatriots. She could only imagine Alastor was right ticked off at Albus and Minerva for not recognizing that it was an impostor and wondered where he went off to. She figured the old Auror was probably licking his wounds for the first few months after his rescue but he hadn't been seen since. The only time Alastor never came by and stuck his nose into her business was when he was busy with a project and to not be seen for close to six months was unusual even for him. The only things of note that had been happening since this summer was centered on Harry Potter. For that matter, she hadn't seen or heard from her old Auror partner Minerva and their team's field medic Poppy Pomfrey either. She sat back in her chair and wondered what the connection was as it was too convenient to be a mere coincidence.

It was time for answers under the guise of catching up with old friends. The holidays were now fast approaching so she would have to work fast so she took out three pieces of parchment and began writing letters.

**ALM**

On Christmas Day, Minerva and Poppy left the castle to visit family. It was not a lie as they were together celebrating the season with those they considered family. They initially felt Harry would have a hard time this holiday with him not being around his friends but he was in a surprising good mood. For Harry, it was the close relationship he now shared with his grandfather and grandmother and great aunt (Harry just went ahead and adopted Poppy).

They were sitting around the table eating the delicious meal Dobby prepared when Alastor broke the silence. "Amelia's sniffing around. I think she suspects Harry is with me."

Minerva nodded. "Poppy and I have been contacted by her as well. She was almost adamant that we spend Yule together like we used to do and she didn't take our not accepting very well. I'm sure she suspects we're involved too."

Harry looked up. "What do we do?"

Moody snorted. "Nothing son. Amelia knows us well enough that if we are working on something, it'll help her in the long run. She just wants to know what's going on."

Harry looked blankly at the wall for a second. The thought of it being known he was alive could destroy many of their plans before they were even able to get started. It would also start a massive manhunt by every faction out there. "Does she know about me?"

Poppy smiled. "Knows…no. Suspects…yes. I do know that she was told of a certain prophecy and I imagine Croaker told her that it was still active."

Harry nodded. "So from what you've told me…active prophecy means its still in play and the subjects of it are still…alive?"

Poppy smiled and teased. "Exactly! You did learn something I taught you because I know your grandmother would never teach you anything about divination if her life depended on it."

Harry and Mad-Eye just laughed as Minerva responded in a dignified manner. She stuck her tongue out at her old friend.

Harry chuckled at their antics but then asked what was to him the million galleon question. "So...will they tell anyone else?"

Moody thought about it for a second before shaking his head. "No...she'll keep our secrets for a while. Croaker saw you when we heard the prophecy. Even though you had a hood on, you were the only other person besides snake lips who could touch it and he won't let anything slip. They'll trust us to do the right thing and let them know what's going on when we're ready."

Harry thought for a second. "The real question is will he tell Albus? If Albus knows, Snape will soon know as well which means Tom will."

Minerva paused for a second. "I can contact him if you wish but I'm pretty sure that knowledge has been hidden as I would have heard something about it by now if Albus knew."

Harry just nodded in return after seeing Poppy and Moody agreeing with her. Then the conversation turned to the happenings of the castle.

The holiday came with the good and bad. Harry laughed as he heard of the hard time the students were having with the new defense teacher. As a joke, Minerva brought him a copy of the book they were learning from. To say Harry laughed even harder would be an understatement. He asked. "I'm assuming Granger didn't take this too well. What did she do?"

Minerva smiled despite the situation. It hurt that he was calling the girl by her surname now but it was better than some of the things he could be saying about her once future granddaughter-in-law.. "Well, I've already told you about Umbridge. (Harry nodded.) She has tied Albus' hands completely and has been issuing education decrees which he has no choice but to support. One was a ban of groups of two or more. Miss Granger decided that since they weren't learning anything useful, she and Ronald would lead a study group. It was felt that with them being around you the most, that they would be the most knowledgeable about defense."

Harry snorted. "Oh, I'm sure they played up their _help_ in our adventures but they were never there when for the really nasty parts so they really don't have a clue what it's like. They can't really understand what it's like to have to stand there and face that demon and keep your bowels under control instead messing all over yourself."

Moody snorted.

Minerva gave him a small smile. "Anyway…they started this group and called it Dumbledore's Army in honor of _their_ hero. I heard at one point some of the group wanted to name it after you but Ronald threw a fit at that idea. They haven't been caught yet but it is only a matter of time as subtlety is not one of their stronger traits. I can only imagine this will land Albus in even more trouble with the Ministry."

Harry grinned. "Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Anything else?"

She looked at him sadly. "The Order was protecting the prophecy in the Department of Mysteries. Somehow…Tom's great big snake got in there and attacked one of the guards. Arthur was killed."

Harry's head dropped as Arthur was one of the really good guys. He felt that Arthur had no idea about what happened to Hermione otherwise he would have stopped it. He hoped. It hurt him to think that a good man like Arthur had to die in this senseless war. The worst part of it was that Arthur died for nothing. He and Moody heard the prophecy right after the existence of it was revealed in a letter from Amelia to Moody. They knew what it said but like most everything else they were doing, it was need to know and Minerva and Poppy didn't need to know the details at this point. It was also senseless since according to the prophecy, Albus was not a player in this game yet he continued to put people in danger for his own sense of self-importance. Of course with Harry supposedly dead, Albus probably thought he was the only player in this game besides Tom. It was then a thought hit him.

"Albus knows I'm alive then. There's no way he'd be having a prophecy guarded if he didn't think it was still in play."

The adults sat back in thought. Minerva finally spoke. "He may suspect but I think it's just like his secrets. It's just information he doesn't want anyone else to have so he's trying to block it."

Moody finally broke in. "It doesn't matter. You're not under his control anymore. Even if he knows the prophecy is still valid, there's nothing he can do to influence either party at this point. He's just a spectator watching a game he's no longer part of."

Poppy chuckled. "That has to hurt him more than anything at this point."

Harry laughed along with the others and then added. "The best part is Albus did all this to himself and we haven't had to tip our hand to move against him."

Moody nodded. "Yet junior. Yet. There's going to come a time where we will have to move against him and he's well protected in that castle."

Harry smiled. "I know pops. But thanks to Mr. Greengrass, we don't have to face the whole country to get to him."

Minerva smiled. "Yes well, the Greengrass family has now painted a large target on themselves by both sides."

Harry smirked. "Well I'm all for protecting them and then aligning with their block when I come out of hiding."

Moody nodded. "Aye lad. I think you'll have three other families joining Potter and Black in that move."

For the rest of the night, the conversation turned less serious and they just enjoyed their time together. The ladies knew that Harry and Moody would be in the thick of it before this next year passed and they wanted to enjoy the time they did have as they were well aware that with the war about to pick up again, this could be their first and last Christmas together as a family.

**ALM**

Around Easter, Minerva made another visit and told of the 'study' group being caught red handed. She laughed as she said the wards on the classroom were shoddy and obviously not Miss Granger's best work. It was a completely Gryffindor affair as many of the students who helped start the group dropped out as Ron continued to bad mouth Harry and say his accomplishments were only because he and Hermione were training Harry.

Neville and Susan Bones led about twenty others in leaving because of that and the fact that Ronald refused to let any of the neutral Slytherins join. As it was, Albus was ran out of the castle and Minerva was called onto the carpet for allowing her house to blatantly break the rules. She was a little incensed at being put on probation by Umbridge and thought about resigning on the spot but stopped herself before her temper could get the best of her.

In total, she had a group of about twenty Lions that would be in detention for the rest of the year and lost enough points to effectively put them in last place.

Harry said. "Shoddy wards? Hermione?"

Minerva nodded. "Things have changed more than you think. I know Miss Granger helped you with your written work but I didn't realize how much you helped her in casting and practical work. She has since lost the top spot in her year and has been steadily dropping ever since."

Harry chuckled. "I imagine Weasley is affecting her more than she him. I'm guessing with Arthur gone...the lot of them have gone off the deep end?"

"That would be a correct assumption. Arthur always moderated the family while Molly was more of a blood purist. The twins haven't changed much except for looking forward to NEWTS and getting out of that house. Ginny struts around like a princess trying to get the richer pure-bloods to notice her."

Harry snorted. "Thank god I'm not there...she'd still be after me."

**ALM**

Everything Harry was doing was paying off and he and Moody gradually grew closer than either wanted as both had lost so much in their lives. By the time Hogwarts was letting out, Harry was becoming a force of nature and was winning far more often against Moody than losing. In Moody's opinion, Harry was ready to take the fight to the Death Eaters but Tom would still be a bit much for him and Moody didn't know what to do to help Harry with that final step. His only thought was to have Harry start dueling Dumbledore but that was not an option for them and he knew of no one else strong and powerful enough to help. It wasn't as if Moody wasn't a powerful wizard, he was but Tom raised the bar to a whole new level and he knew he couldn't stand against the maniac on his own.

One of the things Moody did give Harry was training in how to fight and that meant getting down and dirty and hitting the bastards with everything you had in an effort to take them down and stay alive while doing it. It mostly worked for Moody but his missing body parts and scars were a testament of how badly things could go. Moody was especially proud of Harry's inventiveness when it came to fighting which would show itself in surprising ways in the coming battles. Alastor was also impressed by Harry's drive and unwillingness to ever give up in a fight. It would probably see both their deaths by the time this was over but they would come at a very high cost for Tom and his followers.

When she was able to sneak out for a visit, Moody and Minerva would team up against Harry and he was beginning to hold his own against both of them. They knew it was only a matter of time before he would be outstripping them in skill as he already was in power and they would begin to lose more often instead of quitting at a stalemate.

It was Minerva who postulated how Harry came to be what he was. James was known for his quick reflexes and evidently the Potters had moments where their family members were extremely high powered. James and his father were fairly powerful as was Lily but Harry's great-grandfather Charlus Potter was thought to be a mage class wizard. On his mother's side, Moody was a bit higher on the scale than James and while Minerva was slightly below, her skills made up the difference. Another advantage Harry inherited was his mother's incredible intelligence. While he didn't display it at Hogwarts, it was there waiting to come out once they got him away from Albus. With everything Moody and Minerva taught him, his quick mind was able to make use of the knowledge and pick the appropriate spells given any situation very quickly. When this was added to Harry's high power and quick reflexes, they had a very dangerous wizard on their hands. He wasn't dangerous in the evil sense; it was more that he was dangerous to anyone who stood to harm others.

By the time a quarter of the summer had passed, Harry was growing impatient and was ready to go out and take the fight to Tom and his minions. Moody knew he was ready but was hesitant to send him out into the fray. Little did they know that the time for training was over.

**ALM**

Harry was frustrated and Moody wasn't much better. They were ready to start their own little war but lacked decent intelligence about Tom and his forces and their activities. As the summer passed by, the Daily Prophet ran articles almost daily now of some half-blood or muggleborn families being attacked and in some cases destroyed. For those that did escape, most were bloody and left some of their family behind. It was hard on them to admit that the enemy was effective in what their tactics and what they accomplished.

Amelia was making every effort to make a difference in the attacks but the years of budget cuts and attrition in her forces were taking their toll. At best, she had a few battle-ready Aurors but the rest were pure-blooded peace time Aurors who were only there due do family connections. Even on their best day, the Aurors couldn't or wouldn't get to the site of the attacks in time to do any good. She was also worried that most were not capable of fighting off a Death Eater attack that is if they weren't ones themselves. Her once proud force was severely handicapped now as most of her best had been half-bloods and muggleborn who resigned over the years due to the bigotry and hazing they were subjected to by their peers. Tonks was probably the last half-blood in the ranks and she was only around due to the protection given her by Moody and Shacklebolt. Despite their arrogance, there wasn't a single Auror who wanted to go against either of those men.

With the loss of all the Aurors and quite a few of the better members, the Order was now useless and completely ineffective not that it was ever very effective in the first place. It was filled with wives and children who thought too much of their abilities and were devout worshipers at the feet of Dumbledore. The only other members besides the old crowd were the low-lifes Albus blackmailed into working with him.

Despite the orders of their mother to support Dumbledore and the Order, most of the Weasley boys distanced themselves from Albus as they felt he was directly responsible for Arthur's death. Mad-Eye still attended meetings but to Albus he seemed distracted. In truth, Mad-Eye was busy with his own mission and contemplating the effectiveness of Albus' bird club. Mad-Eye reckoned Remus could be considered a fighter but that would mean he'd have to sober up and that didn't look like it would happen anytime soon.

**ALM**

.

Harry's frustration at the lack of information made him almost desperate to find a way to learn what Tom was planning. He kept looking at the tennis ball that now had a scary face drawn on it as a joke by Lefty. It was only recently returned after Lefty and his crew mapped out the locations of the horcruxes all over England and dealt with several of them already. Lefty stole the ring right out from underneath Tom's nose in Little Hangleton. They didn't know if Tom was there but his Death Eaters were visible around the old Riddle Manor. Lefty's crew located another but couldn't see the location.

After conferring with Harry and Mad-Eye, it was determined that there was one in Grimmauld Place. It took several meetings before Mad-Eye was able to locate the locket but once it was his possession, he saw no reason to continue the farce of being in the Order and resigned. There was no point anymore since he had what he needed and any information he heard in the meetings was days old and embellished if not outright tainted when it came from Snape. As he resigned, he told Albus he would rather try to find a group that was doing something to fight the darkness and not using the meeting as a book club or to exchange recipes. As he walked out the door, Albus knew he lost the last capable fighter in his group.

Lefty's crew also identified Nagini as another horcrux while they were in Little Hangleton. They thought the best course of action was to leave the snake alone and for last so that Tom wouldn't be clued in on what was happening. They knew if he were to learn it, the whole game would change and they wanted to have a slight advantage whenever Harry and Tom met again.

Minerva was brought in on the tasks when Lefty determined one was in Hogwarts. She searched as she did her rounds and with the aid of Lefty's device, had it narrowed down to a certain seventh floor corridor. Harry sent Dobby to help her as elves who had worked in the castle knew all its secrets due to being tied directly to the magic of the castle. The Come and Go Room was a treasure trove of stuff that would have to be looked through at a later time but the tiara was found and passed to Lefty by Dobby.

The last unknown one was proving to be difficult. They got readings from it in Diagon Alley that grew stronger the closer they came to Gringotts. The problem was getting something like that out of one of the vaults would be suicide. In the end, it was decided that Harry would be the one to go to the Goblins and ask for help. Bearclaw took a liking to Harry when his parents' wills were read and would probably be more open to any requests if they came from the young man.

By the time the summer came around, all that was left was the snake and the tennis ball to be destroyed. In six months, Mad-Eye and Harry along with their allies did more to eliminate Tom's advantages than Albus had in sixteen years. They talked about it several times, with Minerva and Poppy there, and came to the conclusion that Albus must have known about them since that night in Godric's Hollow. Poppy had no memory of the details but knew she was the one to see Harry after he was given the scar. Her only conclusion was that Albus took the diagnostic and obliviated the knowledge from her. They couldn't guess how it never came up in the time Harry was at Hogwarts but knew that if it had, Albus would have repeated his actions to keep the secret

All of this was running through Harry's head as he remembered the visions he once received from Tom when it was still in his head. With Alastor out gathering information, Harry took drastic action and picked up the tennis ball for the first time since it was removed. It was thought that since they once shared a connection, he would be more susceptible to the Horcrux so he was forbidden from touching it.

When Harry touched it, he was transported to a meeting of the Death Eaters and it took all of his occlumency skills to stop from being completely drawn into Tom's mind. He remembered being there before and it was somewhere he really didn't want to ever go again. He managed to find his way to the edge of Tom's consciousness and float there taking in all that was being said. He was able to learn of several of Tom's next moves. It didn't hurt that the most feared dark lord in ages used a day planner and had most everything mapped out for the next few months. The most important one was an attack planned on Madam Bones in about two months which would give him and pops a little time to practice up on strategy and procedure. A smile began to form on his face just as Mad-Eye returned from his mission. Mad-Eye walked into his room and saw what was in Harry's hand and the smile on his face.

"Harry? Son?"

Harry held up a hand signaling Moody to wait. Moody looked closer at Harry and saw he was covered in sweat. "Are you still you?"

Harry gave a nod as he watched the meeting begin to break up. He also began to slowly withdraw so as not to tip off Tom that he was there. When he was completely back, Harry got up on shaky legs and put the horcrux back where they kept it. Moody cast a spell at both of them to make sure it was still where it was supposed to be and sighed when he saw the proper readings. Harry walked past him to the kitchen and pulled a soda out of the cooling cabinet. Still worried, Moody followed him in.

"Care to tell me what that was all about? I thought we talked about how dangerous that thing could be to you."

Harry smirked. "Sorry pops"

"Sorry don't cut it. Why would you do something so reckless?"

"Well…as you put it the other day…I'm still a kid and we do stupid things when we're frustrated."

"I know…I thought we'd be making progress by now too but…there's just nothing out there. Tom may be crazy but he's keeping everything he's doing pretty quiet."

"I know…I just wanted to help."

"Did it?"

"He's going after Madam Bones soon. I also picked up a few targets for the next few days."

"Damn kid…good work but did he know you were there?"

"He never acted like it but with that nut job you never know. I don't think so because he'd have reacted in some way. You know he can't stand the thought of someone being better at something than him."

Moody nodded and sat down at the kitchen table motioning Harry to do so as well. "So you wanna do this?"

Harry smiled. "Absolutely! It'll be practice for when we go after Tom and maybe we could save some good witches and wizards in the process."

"Alright…we'll follow our basic plan and adjust as we need to."


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Thanks for all the support and sticking with me as I reentered the active posting world again. As always, I don't own any of it. It's a crying shame too.

Chapter 4

Harry's role in the war was finally becoming active as he was on his first mission. All the hard work Harry went through would be tested tonight and he was bouncing with nervous anticipation.

"Settle down kid. You wanna spook 'em?"

"They aren't even here yet. How can I spook them?"

Mad-Eye growled. "It won't be long…get ready."

Harry just looked at him in a strange way and shrugged his shoulders. Tonight's raid was on the Creevey family and although they were members of the _vaunted_ DAwhich was led by Weasley and Granger, they were no match for Death Eaters. Harry and Mad-Eye both knew that the DA was trained to fight under Albus' rules which meant stunning and nothing lethal. In a perfect world, that would be a great ideal but the world wasn't perfect and the DE's didn't play fair.

From his time at Hogwarts with the hyperactive brothers, Harry knew they had two little sisters who were not magical as was the case with their parents. Without even accidental magic to protect them, the Creevey family was doomed to be slaughtered tonight because they were brainwashed into playing nice.

The normal city noise was momentarily interrupted by the sound of multiple pops. Mad-Eye laid a hand on his shoulder and whispered. "Just like we planned. Catch them in a cross fire if we can, don't let them get behind you, and don't do anything stupid. We don't need them to know who we are just yet and above all else…"

Harry snorted. "I know pops….constant vigilance."

Mad-Eye grinned back. "No…whoever bags the least tonight has to buy the drinks at the pub later."

Harry chuckled. "I hope you brought your money bag." He then disillusioned himself and moved out to make his way to the other side of the house.

As soon as they were in sight, Harry did a head count and saw at least twenty-four. Harry knew this was overkill for one of their raids so he quickly deduced the plan for tonight was total destruction to send a message out. Harry gave a manic grin as he thought a different message would be going out instead.

Lefty had come through for him splendidly. Along with his two wands, two knives, and about ten throwing stars, Harry was also carrying three firearms. The first was a Skorpion machine pistol which he thought may be a little overkill for the night and might actually give his grandfather a heart attack. The other two were fitted with MI-6 silencers, Lefty acquired somewhere, and were a pair of Ruger 9mm. These two were his weapons of choice and he had to admit, he was pretty good with them. The few times Lefty took him out to practice, he realized that the aim and accuracy he learned under Poppy translated to the pistols as well. They were not cannons by any means but when you are a pretty accurate shot, you didn't need the heavier calibers to do the job. With the number of DE's involved, Harry didn't think the Creeveys had time for him to use his wands and in Harry's opinion, that was a shame as he was quite proud of them.

(Flashback)

Minerva took his Holly wand from Albus' office and transfigured an exact replica of it but when he took it in his hand, the wand felt uncomfortable and not right like it once did. It was why she returned it to Albus' office as the bond between Harry and the wand was no longer there. Minerva theorized that Harry had changed too much for the connection to remain and while it made Harry feel a little better, it also hurt that another part of his former life was gone. As it was, Hedwig and Dobby were the only connections that remained.

It wasn't a week later and a long portkey trip before he found himself walking between Moody and Lefty as they made their way through a darkened forest. "Where did you say we were?"

Lefty replied. "Hoia Baciu Forest in Romania. Nasty place but the crafter here makes the best wands."

Moody added. "Stay on the path and don't wander off. There's a lot of nasties out here."

With s gesture of his hand Harry asked. "I get that he's the best but why would we have to go into the middle of this to have a wand made?"

"Man's a recluse for one. He also thinks that unless you can make it through here, you ain't worthy of his work."

"So…what's all in here?"

"As far as we can tell…a little bit of everything. It's said it's the darkest place on Earth. Even Tom would hesitate before coming in here."

Harry chuckled. "Well, let's do this."

His smile turned into a frown as the men didn't move. "Don't tell me…I gotta go alone?"

Lefty chuckled. "Yep"

"Um…I don't have a wand."

"Shouldn't need one. Just don't wander off the path."

"How far?"

"Bout two miles down the path."

"Great! Hopefully I'll see you in a bit."

Harry took off down the path. The darkness was closing in all around him but it was nothing he'd never dealt with before. After fifteen minutes, he had the feeling he was being watched. It lasted for another ten minutes before he saw movement. Unfortunately, it was on the path in front of him. Harry started to stop but then knew it was part of the challenge to get his wands.

Three vampires stood blocking the path. "Ah…fresh young meat brothers. What brings you down our path this evening?"

"I'm sposed to meet a man about wands."

"You'll have to get through us first."

Harry's mind was racing as he tried to think of a way to defeat the vampires without a wand. He then remembered a little wandless trick taught to him by Lefty and concentrated for half a second. When he was done, blue flames covered his body and he began to step forward once again. Not wanting to come into contact with the flames, the vampires moved out of his way as he continued down the path. He kept the flames up until he was sure the vampires weren't following along behind him and canceled the spell.

His journey took about two hours in which he met all kinds of magical creatures and assorted nasties. He used his brain the entire way and never drew his pistols to get him out of a bad situation. The journey itself was interesting as he had never seen trees shaped as many of these were. They made the whole experience surreal and a little eerie and that was saying something since he had traversed the Forbidden Forrest at night on several occasions.

By the time he arrived at the old house, a grizzled old man who would fit in with Mad-Eye and Lefty was waiting for him. The man looked at him for a minute before nodding and waving him inside. Once inside, Harry had to admit it was the strangest room he had ever seen and he lived with Mad-Eye and his ever present paranoia. Foe glasses lined the wall surrounded by weapons of all makes and types. He heard a chuckle in the background and turned to see Mad-Eye and Lefty sitting at a table drinking fire-whiskey. He shook his head at the and muttered 'bastards' before looking at the man again.

The man had a smirk on his face. "Name's Ralph. Thanks for not killing all my friends and protectors."

Harry chuckled. "Ralph? You don't have some strange nickname like those two?" He asked pointing at his mentors.

The man frowned. "Ralph is my nickname."

Harry grinned. "Oh this I gotta hear!"

"Well…I was in the troop with those two back during the last war. Seems the sight of blood don't agree with me."

Harry smiled. "Oddly enough…that's the most logical nickname I've heard yet from Pop's friends."

Harry sat at the table he was directed to and placed his hands on the runes engraved on the table. As soon as he made contact, the runes lit up and began glowing brightly. Ralph turned back to the two men in the back. "you didn't tell me he was a powerful one...course I shoulda known if he made it through the test without any weapon at all." He cast a smirk at Harry as if he knew what Harry had hidden underneath his coat.

Moody bellowed out..."He's me grandson..what dya expect?"

Ralph had Harry do different tasks mainly moving his hands and placing them in different spots on the table and each time having the runes light up. "He's a lot like you Al...you must be teaching him good."

"Aye"

Twelve hours later, Harry was the proud owner of two new wands. Both were exactly the same as Ralph couldn't find anything that was a better match for Harry. The actual wands were hickory. As they talked, Ralph explained that the wood symbolized, appropriately in this case, perseverance which spoke of its flexibly and enduring qualities as a tree. The cores were thestral heartstrings. All Ralph would say was that the thestrals were known to be fairly calm creatures until pushed too far. Once this happened, they reacted violently and viciously. Once Harry picked up the wands, the four of them felt a pulse of magic pass through them.

Ralph looked at him cautiously. "Those wands will be very formidable in your hands Mr. Potter. See that you follow your grandfather's example. Dark magic ain't bad if you're using it for the right reasons."

"Yes Sir. You don't have to worry about that from me."

"Good lad. Now you get out of here with those two reprobates and let me enjoy my peace and quiet."

Harry just nodded as he walked over to Mad-Eye and Lefty and in a flash, the three of them were gone by portkey.

(End Flashback)

Harry moved quickly around to where he would be in a better position to take out as many DE's as possible. He withdrew one of the Rugers from its holster and took careful aim. He started at the back and began taking out the force as they moved to the front doors. He knew the group heading around the back of the house were Mad-Eyes' targets so he focused on who he had in front of him. He was surprised at how quickly the group was moving to take the house as he only got off six shots before they were breaking down the door. He continued to fire as the DE's were entering the house and managed to get a couple more before reloading and following them inside. The room behind the front door obviously was the family room and the DE's caught the Creeveys in front of the TV. Despite the situation, Harry gave credit where it was due as the lead DE worked very quickly by eliminating Mr. Creevey as the biggest threat. He was already on the floor after being taken down by a curse. Harry was glad he didn't see a flash of green which meant he was probably still alive but couldn't worry about him right now as there were still five people in the room in imminent danger.

Harry dropped a wand into his left hand from the wrist holster he now wore as he kept firing to eliminate the DE's as quickly as he could. It never left his mind that there was almost an equal number heading in from the back. He knew Mad-Eye would take care of a good many of them but he didn't need the ones he was facing to be reinforced until he put these down. A curse flew towards the family and Harry cast Protego Horribilus to protect the Creeveys. The two young wizards were already in front of their mother and sisters casting the best shields they knew. While it was helping, Harry knew it wouldn't be enough for some of the higher level curses the DE's were known to use.

Harry's shield flashed as it was hit by several dark cutters and knew it was time to make a choice. The Ruger went back in its holster and the other wand dropped into his free hand from the wrist holster on that arm. With four remaining attackers from the the front door group, Harry started hammering them hard with every strong curse he could throw. He yelled 'DOWN' and the Creevey brothers took their sisters and mother to the floor just as Harry released an over-powered and drawn out cutting curse. Over their heads, a ribbon of deep red flew out in a arc and hit his last four opponents. As they dropped, Harry rushed across the room, he said "Stay down. I'll let you know when its safe."

Harry made it to one of the back windows and took a look outside. Mad-Eye had six down already but was having difficulty with the remaining five as they were hiding behind trees and any other cover they could find as they traded spells with the old Auror. He moved to a door and cast a silencing charm on it so he could open it without being heard. He stuck his wand out the door and with a smirk, Harry cast Serpensortia five times in quick succession. With the amount of power he put into the spells, five large black mambas were summoned and he hissed out. _"Kill those five but leave the old man alone."_

Within a few minutes, the spell fire stopped and the DE's started screaming and running out from behind their cover. Moody took advantage of it and put the men down as soon as they appeared. He remained where he was until Harry canceled the spell with a smirk on his face. As soon as the snakes were gone, Moody came out from his cover and lumbered over to Harry. He growled out. "Don't think that little trick gives you the credit for the kills."

Harry chuckled. "Sure thing pops. Wouldn't want your reputation to be ruined by a wet-behind-the-ears snot-nosed-brat."

Moody took a swipe at Harry who ducked and moved back towards the house. "Mr. Creevey got hit. Don't know how bad but he was down. I think the rest are okay...just a little shaken up."

"Let's go check then. Good work if they only got one but we need to hurry before the Aurors show up."

Harry went back in the door after canceling his disillusionment charm but did pull up his hoodie and cast a charm across the opening to obscure his face. He knew the longer he stayed dead, the more opportunities they had to do some real damage.

He made it back into the room where both boys were leaned over their father. "How is he?"

"He's still breathing...barely. I don't see any blood and the curse wasn't green."

Harry replied. "Well that's something then. Let me take a look." He then waved his wand over Mr. Creevey and frowned. "I'm not too sure about this one."

Dennis asked. "What can we do?"

Harry's tone turned dark. "Mungo's is out. They won't treat a muggle. The bastards." He turned back to the door. "Hey pops...need your help in here."

Moody thumped through the house and into the family room. Both boys looked at him and together said. "Professor Moody?"

"Aye lads. Lemme take a look." He waved his wand over Mr. Creevey. "I've seen this before. Might can counter it. Junior...come over here so you can learn."

Harry asked. "What was it?"

"Looks like a variant of the blood boiler. Try the counter for that and put a lot into it."

"Yes sir."

Harry waved his wand several times and Mr. Creevey seemed to relax a little and breathe easier. After a minute, his color began to return."

Moody waved his wand over him again and nodded. "That did it son. Good work."

Harry nodded and then turned to the others. "Are all of you okay?"

Colin answered. "Yeah...I think so. Mostly shaken up. They didn't get to mum or my sisters before you got them. Thanks for saving my family."

Harry just shrugged. "It needed to be done. We're glad we got here in time."

Colin recognized the shrug and the voice. "Harry?"

Harry sighed. "Harry's gone Colin. You know that."

"But?"

All of a sudden, there was the sound of multiple pops out in front of the house. They heard one yell 'Aurors' followed by feet running up the steps. Moody looked down at Harry. "GO...I'll be fine!" With a nod, Harry tapped a ring on his hand with his wand and disappeared.

Colin looked at Moody. "Professor...was that really Harry?"

Moody placed his hand on Colin's shoulder. "I'm sorry son but everybody knows Harry Potter is gone. You wouldn't be going about spreading rumors that he's around would you?"

Colin shook his head. "You're right Sir. Whether it was or not...after what you did...I owe you both that much."

"Good lad. Now go tend to your family while I deal with the Aurors."

Moody walked over and stood by the entrance as the Aurors came through the door and came up short at the sight of him. The leader gasped out. "Master Auror Moody? What are you doping here?"

Moody growled out. "I was out for a stroll and saw these dip-shits about to attack this family. Wasn't about to walk away."

Another Auror came running up to the leader and whispered in his ear. The Lead Auror then turned back to Moody. "Moody, I know you're good but even you couldn't take down twenty four single-handed."

Moody took a threatening posture. "Wanna find out Johnson?"

The lead Auror knew better than to challenge this man. "Um no sir...not really."

Moody gave one of his grins that you could never tell if it was evil or happy. "Good. The family is in there. I've already countered the curse the father was hit with. You might want to have the medics give 'em all a once over and then calming draughts. Maybe even post some guards here tonight just in case the bastards send someone looking for their team."

Another Auror asked in an astonished voice. "This was all of them? No one got away?"

"As far as I know."

The lead Auror only nodded. "Okay Master Auror. Madam Bones will probably want to talk to you but you can go for now."

Moody nodded his head and then tapped his portkey. In the blink of an eye, he was gone and the Aurors went about cleaning up the scene and sending away bodies for identification.

When Mad-Eye arrived back at their house, he found Harry waiting for him on the couch in the main room. "You did good tonight Junior."

"You too pops but I can't help but think that twenty-four DE's was a little overkill for the Creeveys."

"Aye...I'm thinking it was a training mission."

Harry's nodded. "They weren't very aware of their surroundings so I don't know how good they really were. Those in the back seemed to do okay."

"Didn't say they weren't talented."

Harry only nodded. "The only reason I did as well as I did was because of the Rugers. They'd have overwhelmed me in minutes if not for that."

Moody flopped down in a chair across from Harry. They didn't need much of a debrief but talking about successes and failures were good for keeping an edge. "Aye...much like they had me at a stalemate but still...the mission was a success."

Harry nodded. "Yes sir it was. I'd just like to make sure we have a better advantage next time."

Moody grinned at him. Never let it be said that the apple didn't fall far from the tree. It was always good to have overwhelming firepower when going up against an adversary.

"And we will. Just knowing where they're gonna hit is a big one. Who's next on the list?"

Harry frowned. Moody knew he was still hurt by the broken bond still but it was much better than his reactions to her name when they first started the training. "Granger's house but you said they'd been moved."

Moody gave him an evil grin. "Still don't mean we can't use it to take out a few more."

Harry nodded. "Guess I'll head to bed. Looks like we have another long night tomorrow."

**ALM**

Harry spent most of the morning rummaging through Moody's arsenal and came across several balls. When asked, Moody told him they were experimental stun grenades developed for the DMLE. Harry nodded and took them to his room and began to experiment with them. By disassembling them, he was able to see the inner working and figured out what caused the stunning spell to activate. As the whole thing was done with runes, he sanded the stunning runes off the inner workings and then pulled a book from his library. The book was left with him by Lefty and was a breakdown of runic sequences and what they did. When he found the right entry, his face took on an evil grin much like Moody's the night before and he set to work.

He worked through lunch and finally came out about three in the afternoon and had a late lunch. Once Moody sat down across from him, he took in Harry's smug look. "So what have you been up to all day laddie?"

The grin didn't leave Harry face. "I was just tinkering with those stun balls."

"And?"

With a bigger grin, Harry replied. "Oh...they're kinda death balls now...well at least maim balls. I removed the stunning spells and added in cutters instead. I then pushed a lot of magic into the charging rune so that it would be able to send out the more powerful spells. I figured we could throw them in a group of DE's and take out enough to give us a better advantage."

Moody nodded. "Good thinking. If they work, I'll get some more for you to play with."

"Why'd nobody else do something like that?"

Moody growled. "That'd be your former headmaster keeping the Aurors' hands tied so that none of his redeemable upstanding citizens would get hurt."

Harry shook his head. "And the sheep wonder why we were so close to losing last time."

"Aye"

**ALM**

They were set up early much like the day before and were awaiting the attack. They were split up this time with Harry being across the street sitting on a large branch in a neighbor's tree while hiding under his invisibility cloak. Moody was camped out behind a shed in the Granger backyard. He had a conjured chair and had his own cloak over him. The waiting was hard as they knew the Death Eaters wouldn't show up before dark.

Harry climbed down from the tree to stretch his legs and loosen his joints for a few minutes. It wouldn't pay for the DE's to show up and he not be able to move for a few minutes due to his unresponsive muscles. Just as he was about to climb back up, he heard multiple 'pops' of apparation and turned to look across the street. It seemed the number was greater than the previous night as if last night was the signal that the DE's were now being hunted and old Tom wanted this mission to be successful.

Harry reacted quickly and threw three balls into the midst of the bunched up DE's after activating them. There was no sound and the only way Harry knew they worked was due to the flash of light. Once that occurred, sound did break the quiet once again as many DE's were now lying on the ground and either screaming or moaning. Several didn't do that as the death balls had earned their name due to the proximity of them to the activated balls.

Harry went into motion, This time, the bunched up DE's were stunned at the suddenness of the counterattack. He pulled out the Scorpion, pulled back the hammer, and let go. The silencing charm around the machine pistol held as he emptied the first 20 round clip. He slammed in another and opened up once again. He was downing the enemy at a good rate but many had already regained their senses and moved. A group of about fifteen took off around the side to get away from the invisible death and ran into Moody. Another death ball was sent in their midst which cut Moody's foes by five. As soon as the flanking DE's started moving again, Moody sent a high powered ribbon cutter towards them and took out the three front ones. Knowing he wouldn't last long out in the open, Moody moved behind a tree and started making surgical strikes when he wasn't dodging incoming curses.

He got three more before the four remaining DE's were closing in on him. They were still unaware of who they were facing and if they'd known, they'd have been a lot more cautious. One of them finally tagged Moody with a cutter which set Moody back a step recovering from the curse. They made their move and Moody snap cast a bone breaker straight into one of their chests. They hesitated for a second allowing Moody to send another lethal curse out. This time the intended target spun out of the way. Moody knew then that these were a little better than the rest and cast several spells trying to keep them off guard so that he could get an opening to finish them off. Out of the dark, Moody saw a glint of metal reflecting in the street lights. In the next moment, one of them dropped to the ground. Moody spared a glance and saw one of Harry's stars sticking out from the man's neck. The distraction was enough where Moody landed two solid spells taking out the remaining DE's.

Moody grunted out. "How many were there this time?"

"Close to forty. Old Tom must be nervous after last night. You okay?"

"Just a cutter. I'll live. What about the rest?"

"Death balls and the Scorpion got most of them. I finished them off with piercing hexes between the eyes."

"Good lad. Never leave anyone alive that you may have to fight later."

Harry snorted. "Moody Book of Combat 101 item 3. I'll bet dumbnuts loved you for that one."

Moody snorted. "Aye that he did. Called me into his office and tried for three hours to show me the error of my ways."

Harry tried his best to imitate Albus. "I'm so disappointed in you Alastor. They could be redeemed to do my dirty work just like Severus."

Moody nodded. "Aurors will be here soon. Let's go."

As they arrived home, Moody pulled them in to the living room like the night before. "Well laddie...let's do this."

Harry nodded. "The death balls worked perfectly giving us a slight boost. If it hadn't been for them, I figured we'd have been overrun tonight."

"Aye...they were a big help. I'll get some more for you to play with. Now, why aren't you using your magical abilities more?"

Harry thought for a second. "First, it keeps me off the radar a little bit longer and second, well, if we were matched up a little more evenly, I probably would but since they had overwhelming numbers, I thought I needed to use overwhelming force."

Moody nodded. "My thoughts too. Good call on that. So what's next?"

Harry closed his eyes to think. "Nothing tomorrow night. I imagine Tom will lick his wounds for a few days...maybe even a week. We've taken out over sixty in two days. That's maybe a quarter of his forces right now not counting any creatures."

Moody asked. "What are your thoughts on the current raids?"

"Like you said last night...training missions or giving his troops a taste of death and destruction in a less crucial raid. I mean...the Creeveys and Grangers are no threat to him and he only has an interest in them because they're muggleborn and well known at Hogwarts. I don't think there's any connection to me since I'm supposedly dead."

"So you don't think the Weasleys are on the list?"

"It wasn't on the list I saw but...they are blood traitors. Hell they're friend traitors too for that matter." Harry chuckled. "If he don't get them...I just might one day."

Moody's eye rose at that and he just stared at Harry.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Geez pops...I was just kidding but if that red-headed git comes at me with a wand...I'm putting his ass down."

"Understood. Now...I'm thinking he's getting them used to working together for bigger targets. We've done some damage so he's going to be rethinking some of his plans."

"Probably"

"He's going after Bones sooner than he planned now and I'm going to guess he'll go after the Greengrass family as well. They're the top neutrals and if he takes them out, he probably thinks the rest will come down on his side. My sources say he's not too happy about having another group against him even if they are against Albus."

Harry nodded. "Yeah...he's lost a good chunk of his cannon fodder so he'll move up the timetable. Can you have Lefty sneak over there and put up some alert wards? We need to be there fast cause he's going to hit and hit hard."

Moody nodded. "I'll send a note in the morning. I'll also stop by and see how many of those balls I can get. If we lob a bunch of them over, we might walk away from this one too."

Harry nodded and rose out of his seat. "I'm heading for bed. Whipping up on bad guys makes me tired."

Moody chuckled. "Me too son. I'd plan on Minnie and Poppy coming over soon. They're going to know we're active now."

Harry nodded and walked out of the room. He stripped as he walked through his room and climbed into the shower to rid him of the grime from the fight. Within minutes, he was climbing in bed and sound asleep.

**ALM**

The headlines in the Daily Prophet the next morning had most of the British magical world totally riveted to the lead article and in shock at what they were reading.

 _DEATH EATER ATTACKS STOPPED COLD_

 _On the previous two evenings, the Death eaters were out for blood and mayhem. Both attacks were completely stopped with none of the defenders injured according to a DMLE spokesperson._

 _Two nights ago, Hogwarts muggleborn students Colin and Dennis Creevey were enjoying their summer holidays with their family when the Death Eaters came knocking. The Creevey family was defended by unknown persons who totally decimated the attack. Unofficial reports have Retired Master Auror Alastor Moody somehow involved along with an unknown accomplice. Of the twenty-four Death Eaters involved, none made it out alive._

 _In a similar attack last night, over forty Death Eaters attacked the home of muggleborn Hogwarts student Hermione Granger who was linked to Harry Potter before his untimely death. The attack was once again thwarted with no idea how it came about. There is speculation that Master Auror Moody was once again involved but no proof has been discovered and the retired Auror is as always unavailable for comment._

 _The only thing that connects the two thwarted attacks is evidence of a new spell being used. This spell seems to be a variation of the piercing hex and experts say that the entry wound is very small for a normal piercing hex and the caster would have to have focused his spell into a tight beam. That's where the difference stops as the exit wound is rather large. Officials are stumped by the results of their autopsies and are actively seeking Master Auror Moody to hopefully shed some light on this subject._

 _Other sources revealed that the Aurors played no part in the defense of these two students' homes. When we spoke to young Colin Creevey, all he had to say was thank you to his saviors and that if they ever needed his help, he would gladly do anything he could for their defense of his family. Hermione Granger was not available for contact and is believed to be either at Hogwarts or in another undisclosed safe location with her family._

 _In the aftermath of the attacks, sixty-four Death eaters have been taken off the streets permanently while the defenders have suffered no casualties._

 _Whoever you are, Thank You!_


	5. Chapter 5

AN: I'm not completely happy with this chapter but I think it may _start_ to answer some questions. Then again, it may create some but more shall be revealed as the story continues. Again, thanks for the support. For those who are wondering about Hermione, be patient and let it unfold as it will.

AN2: I've been distracted by a project and my focus has slipped a little from writing. All this means is that I'm going to slow down my posting speed by a few days so I can stay ahead.

Chapter 5

Around the country, there were different reactions. In the Creevey house, all were thankful to the two men who came and saved them. Colin sat in his room and prayed for Moody and Harry, asking the higher powers to watch over them and keep them safe as they tried to rid the world of the evil that was infesting it. While he was big brother to three others, in his mind, it was Harry who he thought of as his big brother. He knew he annoyed Harry at times but unlike others, Harry was usually patient and kind. The last year was hard on him as he dealt with the loss of his hero but it was more than that. Things had changed and not for the good long before Harry disappeared.

He shook his head to get back on track and resume his prayers. They then turned to Hermione Granger. He didn't know what happened but she changed and not for the better. He prayed for her heart and soul. He knew that something was wrong when she turned on Harry and put her attention on Ron Weasley. He wasn't learned enough or maybe he was just to naive to suspect foul play but he knew something happened and it revolved around Harry and Hermione. Ginny also changed during that time and became more positive and assured that Harry would be hers. Colin knew it was a pipe dream as Harry never looked at her that way...ever. However, the looks of love and hurt he gave Hermione told a different story.

Ron Weasley also changed during that time and became more sure of himself...or was it pride. Pride that he split the amazing couple of Harry and Hermione. The two true leaders of Gryffindor and who were becoming the power couple of Hogwarts as a whole. And then the split, why had she done it? Why would she leave Harry who Colin was positive loved her with his entire being for Ron Weasley who showed nothing but hate.

And then there was this last year. Hermione seemed happy to be Ron's girl now. The only thing was that she changed. She was no longer the kind and patient person from before. She was now more like Ron. Not only that, it seemed as if her intelligence was diminished. Colin snorted. Being around Ron would do that to you especially without Harry there to balance things out.

Colin knew Ron Weasley was a self centered, selfish, and idiotic person. He was not someone to look up to. In fact, there wasn't anyone in Gryffindor who could step into Harry's shoes even though Ron tried. The DA was a brilliant idea and Colin thought maybe the old Hermione was returning but it was not to be. It quickly became the Ron Weasley show where he tried to lie to everyone saying he was the brain behind Harry. When no one really believed him, he resorted to bad-mouthing Harry and it hurt to see Hermione stand there and do nothing to defend Harry. It was a real eye-opener for him and he was proud of himself when he followed Neville and Susan out of that DA meeting. It was the right thing to do. It was what Harry would have done and Colin was secretly glad when they got caught and punished. The ones that stayed were never really Harry's friends but he knew he was and he'd keep whatever secret he needed to just for the simple fact that Harry saved him and his family. He would keep the faith for he knew that a day of reckoning would come to those who chose the easy path and they would not only have to answer to the Great Father but to Harry as well.

**ALM**

The Grangers were ensconced in Grimmauld Place and were thankful they were no where near their home last night. They asked Remus to go check on their house and the only real damage he could report were a torn up yard and a couple of broken windows which he repaired with a spell. It was a relief to them that they still had a home at this point but didn't hold out any hope that it would remain that way throughout the war.

Hermione's father read the article and was quite sure what was the cause of the so called new spell but didn't voice his opinion among the magicals. A quick glance at his wife assured him she also knew that many of the DE's were killed by bullets instead of spells but also held her tongue.

The one they were worried about was Hermione. She had changed a lot over the last two years and her mother was aware that Hermione was sexually active with the weasel boy. It broke her heart when she knew her daughter had a wonderful relationship building with Harry before fourth year. She still didn't understand how her focus had turned almost overnight and wondered if there might be foul play involved. The Grangers were smart enough to never bring anything up because they were now here at the mercy of the Headmaster's vigilante group. They had no doubts that if they made trouble or accused any of the group of wrong doing to their daughter, they would probably disappear.

In the quiet of their room that night, they made some painful decisions. They knew they would never get Hermione away from these people and thought she was relatively safe among them as she had completely absorbed herself into the magical world but the Granger adults were leaving the next day. Jake was an only child and the last generation of male Grangers. Through this, he had inherited several properties from his family some of which Hermione had never visited or knew anything about. They were going into hiding again but this time it would be in their own world that they knew they could navigate easily while the magicals could not.

The news about the aborted attacks also gave them hope that they could defend themselves if it came down to it as both were still crack shots from their time in the military. Jake was glad he drove them over in his car so that they could leave the same way claiming they had some business to attend to dealing with their dental practice.

They weren't too bothered by lying to the people in the house as the welcome they received when they arrived was cool at best and they could tell they were only being tolerated because of their daughter. Their first stop in the morning would be to their house to pick up more clothes and supplies and to empty the gun vault in the basement. From that point on, they would lie low until the magical war blew over and hopefully be able to reunite with their daughter.

They both cried that night at the thought of leaving their daughter behind but Jake felt she was already lost to them and he needed to take care of himself and Miranda. The decision wasn't made lightly but the way Hermione had pretty much left them to fend for themselves ever since arriving at the dark manor house, they knew it was the right one. They didn't plan to tell Hermione of their decision as they weren't sure they could trust her to not inform the others. The next morning was difficult for them as it was hard to act normally as they lied to the group around them. They heard the platitudes and condescending remarks that they wouldn't last a day without their protection but Jake and Miranda knew better and refused whatever protection was offered while they were away from the dark manor. With the exception of a few, these wizards couldn't cope with the real world and couldn't function in it but it was home and real life for them. They pulled it off though and were able to hide the pain of leaving their beloved daughter behind as they escaped the magical world. They only hoped she would be kept safe.

**ALM**

The others in Grimmauld Place felt the first stirrings of hope in the war ever since the loss of Harry. Moody and whoever his partner was was out there taking down DE's like they should be instead of hiding in this hell hole of a house. Some wished they could contact Moody and join the fight but he had made himself virtually untraceable and never came to meetings anymore. The only magical who realized how the DE's were taken down was Hermione but she had long learned to keep her mouth shut about muggle abilities. Every time in the past, she was brushed off and called barmy for even suggesting the muggles could easily take down wizards. Besides, things were so much easier for her when Ron was happy.

**ALM**

In a castle in Scotland, the teachers were sitting around the breakfast table reading the latest edition of the Daily Prophet. One was fuming and saying how he needed to get Alastor under control. He asked Fawkes to take him a message asking for a meeting. When the Phoenix returned, he brought an answer that sent Albus further over the edge.

 _Dumbledore,_

 _I have no interest in listening to you say how disappointed you are in me. I also don't want to hear how those animals could be redeemed. They set out to attack unarmed and innocent people and they lost their rights to a peaceful life when they took his mark. We will continue to fight this war as we see fit. Our way is saving innocent lives unlike your stun policy. How many has the Order lost because you don't have the stones to take the fight to them?_

 _On a second note, if you value your pet Death Eater, you'd better keep him close to you as we see him as an enemy combatant and will take him out just like the rest of the low life scum he hangs out with._

 _Bugger Off,_

 _A. Moody_

Albus was furious after this and asked Fawkes to take him straight to Moody. Fawkes gave him a long look and flamed away making the refusal obvious. The others at the table watched the whole thing with some concern as it looked like Albus was losing the plot. Minerva and Poppy shared a glance. Both knew they would be taking a trip either tonight or the next to have dinner with the boys and find out just what all they've been up to since the last time they saw them.

Albus stormed from the Great Hall and headed out towards the grounds. He was attempting to go and confront Moody at that very moment and made it about halfway across the grounds before realizing he had no idea where Moody was currently holed up. He stopped dead in his tracks and threw his hands up in frustration before turning and walking slowly back to the castle as Minerva and Poppy watched from a window up on the grand staircase. Minerva sometimes wondered if Albus had an inkling that Harry was still alive but was keeping it hidden as he did with most other things he deemed important. If that was the case then she had the idea that maybe Albus was more upset at Alastor turning Harry into a warrior rather than the pacifist he wanted the boy-who-lived to be. It would explain Harry's isolation and upbringing but not the things he allowed to happen to Harry while at Hogwarts. Maybe Albus was just a senile old coot that wasn't playing with a full deck as Harry often said. She always defended Albus in the past before the end of Harry's fourth year and ever since then, she'd seen him as he was and as Harry saw him.

**ALM**

As the day passed at Grimmauld Place, Hermione became increasingly worried about her parents when they didn't return. Ron tried to sooth her and get her mind on other things but nothing seemed to work which caused his anger to erupt. He tried to order her to forget about them and come to his room but her concern for her parents was overriding his control over her and her mind began to clear somewhat of the haze that was caused by the binding. It was then that she remembered her bond with Harry and how she destroyed it by being weak and allowing Ron to separate them. In her brief moment of clarity, she remembered it was permanent and that she belonged to Ron now. With her mind focused, she ran to Remus and begged him to take her to her parent's home to make sure they were okay.

She remembered the article in the Daily Prophet from yesterday along with the look on her father's face. She had a suspicion they returned there today to get the things from the secret room in the basement where she knew her dad kept things that could be used to protect themselves.

Hermione was almost in hysterics and the only way Remus could think to settle her down was to take her. It was convenient that Tonks was back from her day shift as an Auror and with an extra wand available, she went along. Upon arriving in the backyard, Hermione hurried around the front and saw that her parents' car was not there it was then she noticed where the bullets had struck the house. As she looked around the yard, she could see signs that something happened but the Ministry response team must have cleaned most everything up. She almost ran into Remus and Dora as she ran back around the house to enter through the back door but stopped dead.

Remus paused for a second. "I didn't say anything back at the house but those are bullet holes."

Hermione nodded. "I noticed. Who would Mr. Moody associate with who would fight a wizard war with muggle weapons?"

Tonks snorted. "Don't put anything past ole Mad-Eye. I've met some of his friends before. They're all hard cases like Moody. I don't think they'd have any problems taking out the DE's any way they could."

"Is that who is helping him?"

Tonks shrugged. "Don't know. All his friends are old men. All the Creeveys would say that it was a younger man who left before the Aurors got there. The family was quite grateful and the oldest...Colin I think basically handled everything with the investigation and he wouldn't say a thing about the guy."

Hermione looked confused for a minute. "That's how he was with Harry too. Wouldn't hear a word spoken against him and definitely would never turn on him."

They all got a sad look on their faces when Harry's name was mentioned. Each one of them knew they had failed him in some way and the whole situation was strange. There was no way Harry wouldn't and couldn't have fought off the dementors. No one had access to Harry ever since he came back after the third task so it was impossible to judge his state of mind. Did his breakup with Hermione push him over the edge along with seeing Voldemort reborn? These were questions Remus wanted answers to but the only one who could do that was dead. Or was he? At the time Remus thought the will reading was a prank and now he was almost assured it was. He knew the small amounts given out at the will reading were nothing compared to what was available to Harry. He did grow up with James and visit his home so he knew what kind of money James had. And he also knew Harry was the sole heir to that estate. If that wasn't enough, he knew Harry was also given the Black Estate with the exception of Grimmauld Place as that was left to Remus. Since then, there has been no mention of what happened to either the Black or Potter Estate. It was like they just ceased to exist or the Goblins were very effectively hiding something. He shook off his thoughts and focused on the task at hand.

They followed Hermione through the back door once she produced her key and unlocked it. Not knowing what was going on but seeing the hurried and frantic way she moved, they followed her. She headed down a hallway and then pushed in on the wall at a certain point and then slid a door aside. She reached out and flipped on a light switch and made her way down a set of stairs. She moved with purpose as she revealed another hidden door with a safe behind it. Hermione immediately set to work on the combination and once she was done, she moved the handle to the up position and pulled the door open which caused the lights inside to come on. The inside was empty except for a table where she knew her dad took care of his guns. The only thing on the table was an envelope with her name on it.

With shaking hands, she opened the envelope and fell into a chair to read.

 _Hermione,_

 _If you are reading this then you figured out that we had to move on. We no longer felt safe there and we weren't about to rely on those people for our safety when it was only a matter of time before you returned to school. Know that we are safe and well hidden as even you don't know of all of the places we have available to us through your dad's family._

 _I know this hurts you to know we left you behind but we didn't see any choice if we wanted to live. It was a hard decision to make and believe me we cried about it all that last night but we couldn't trust you with the knowledge as you would have told them and they would have held us as prisoners. You may not see it that way but we did._

 _You see, there was once a little girl who got whisked away to a magical place. Things were not so great at first but then she found her knight and life was much better. The knight was a good man and stayed by her side through everything just as the princess did for him. They protected and loved each other deeply and even at a young age, committed themselves to each other. Their love and devotion to each other was becoming legendary Sadly, there was a friend of the knight who was not such a good man. The friend was jealous of the knight and princess and did everything he could to separate them since he wanted what the knight had including the princess for himself. Nothing would work and the bad friend grew more jealous and angry that he couldn't have the princess so he ran to his mother and asked for her help._

 _The evil mother told of a potion he could give the princess to make him hers and he willingly did it. At the same time, the little sister of the bad friend wanted the knight for herself so he was also given a potion to make the knight fall for her. Throughout their fourth year together, the potion was being slipped into their drinks and sadly the princess began to fall under its effects. It hurt the knight because he didn't know what was going on and the potion had no effect on him as his love was true._

 _Under the influence of the potion, the princess changed. The once true love she had for the knight became tainted. She grew distant from the knight and then took up with the bad friend. She changed so much that no one knew who she was anymore, even the king and queen and it concerned them greatly because for the first time in the princess' life, the king and queen no longer trusted her and didn't tell her things so that they would be safe._

 _At the end of their fourth year, the princess broke her commitment to the knight and gave herself to the bad friend and forever became his for even if she got away from the bad friend, she could never have the knight once again as his love would not accept her. Even through the pain of losing his princess, the knight only showed love for the princess and took the pain of the loss upon himself._

 _If all this was not bad enough, the unthinkable happened and the knight was slayed in battle. The bad friend was happy about it because jealousy and greed were the only emotions he knew. The princess was sad at first but the bad friend made her forget all about the knight._

 _To this day, the knight haunts the kingdom and especially the princess' dreams of a promising life lost._

 _My daughter, you know this story to be true as I've heard others in that house speak of it. I've heard the viewpoint of the knight from someone who cared greatly for him._

 _I love you dearly. How could I not when I almost gave my life to bring you into this world? Despite our love for you, we cannot accept your choices. We know something happened to change you. We also know what happened to you and that you had to accept it willingly. We wish you well and if the Good Lord is willing, maybe one day we will see each other again._

 _Love,_

 _Mum & Dad_

Tears were already leaking down her face as she read the letter but she completely broke down once she finished. The letter fell out of her hands and hit the floor as her head landed in her hands on the table and she wept for the life she had lost and the loss of her parents.

Tonks reached down and picked up the letter and quickly scanned it. It wasn't until the end that she realized it wasn't a fairy tale told by her mother but the story of Hermione's life since coming to the magical world. She shook her head and asked. "Blimey Hermione, what did you do?"

Hermione sat there sobbing for a minute before what Tonks asked registered. She then stood slowly and turned to Tonks. "I...I betrayed Harry. I didn't want to at first but then it just seemed right. I pledged my virginity to Harry and then slept with Ron hurting Harry even more."

"I was potioned until my will weakened and I gave in. At the same time, Harry was potioned and he never faltered or gave in. His love remained true to me despite what I did to him. The pledge we made would cause immense pain to whoever broke it. I never felt a thing so Harry took all the pain into himself. And now I'm paying for it."

Tonks snorted. "Harry had unimaginable pain and you're just paying for it by feeling guilty. Doesn't sound like much of a penance."

Hermione scowled and began unbuttoning her shirt. Once done she pulled it off and turned around showing the tattoos marking her as someone's slave.

Tonks and Remus gasped. "Why in the hell would you do that? And with Weasley of all people?"

She turned back and looked them in the eye. "I was potioned in increasingly high amounts. They weren't concerned if something happened to me as long as I was separated from Harry. The dosage finally was increased to the point where it broke my will and I slept with Ron. Ronald is so stupid that _I_ had to teach him the spells to bind me. Being a slave to that worthless human being is the only way I can live my life knowing what I did to Harry. It is how I punish myself for allowing myself to betray him. It is the only way I can atone for the pain I caused him."

Tonks sputtered. "But they did that to you!"

Hermione snapped back. "It was my fault! The Weasleys may have started it but it showed how weak I was when I didn't fight it off or fight for Harry. It proved I wasn't the strong woman Harry needed...I should have went to Harry or Madam Pomphrey when I noticed something wasn't right but I didn't and for that reason alone, I know the blame lies with me."

Remus was shocked at her admission but asked. "But how can you seem so happy normally?"

Hermione looked down. "My emotions are controlled by my master. If he's happy then so am I and you know Ron is a simpleton. As long as he's being fed and having sex, he's happy."

They just stood there staring at her as there was nothing they could say. If they were willing to go to such lengths then Remus was about to force them back to the Burrow as he didn't want people like that in his house. Hermione could see them thinking and brought them out of it. "My parents are gone and won't be found until they are ready to be. Even by me. I think it's time to go back. My master is showing anxiety at my being out of his sight and I'd prefer not to get a beating for it tonight."

She shooed them back out of the house locking everything behind her as she went. Once outside, she held out the key to Tonks. "Vanish this please. I don't think I'll need it again and I don't want Ron getting his hands on it and getting ideas."

She did as asked and then grabbed Hermione's arm and disappeared. When they reached the door, she quietly said "Thank You" before walking in and going to Ron.

That night at dinner, Remus looked at everyone sitting at the table and made his decision. "I think I'd like for all of you to move back to your own homes. Your presence here is quickly depleting the funds Sirius left me to maintain the house by feeding you all." He looked at Ron. "Some more than others."

Molly screeched. "You can't do that. Albus gave us permission to be here."

Remus snarled. "Albus doesn't own this house. I do. And as the owner, I have heard things over the last few months that make me question whose side you are on. Oh...that's right...you're on Dumbledore's side and your own. Get out of my house and tell your master the Order is no longer welcome here."

Ron stupidly asked. "If you're kicking us out, whose side are you on?"

"Harry's"

Ron snorted. "Harry's dead!"

"Exactly...thanks to Albus and the Order. I refuse to sit around here and play house with you when I could actually be doing something to end this war. The wards will change at midnight. Anyone not approved by me will be tossed out. I suggest you get packing."

Molly stormed out of the kitchen and went straight to the floo to call Albus. When it wouldn't work for her, she turned on Remus. "What's wrong with the floo?"

"It's locked."

"Well unlock it!"

"It isn't your house Molly. If you want to use the floo, by all means do so...at your own house."

She sobbed. "We're not as protected there."

Remus coldly said. "It's not my problem."

"Why are you doing this?" She sobbed out.

The amber in his eyes flared letting her know he was so angry the wolf was coming to the surface so she took a step back.

"I _know_ Molly...and Arthur would be _so_ proud of you."

She asked in a scared voice. "Know what?"

"I know about the potions you were feeding my nephew and Miss Granger. I know you and your family did everything you could to break their bond. I know you could have killed Harry by causing him to be distracted during the tournament. And I _know_ you will rot in hell for breaking that bond and I hope your son and daughter are right there beside you. I think it's only fitting seeing how your actions sentenced Hermione to the same fate. YOU are as dark as they come with your plans to trap two children in your web. I'm almost happy that Harry is no longer with us so that he didn't have to go through that and for that reason, I will not have you in MY house any longer."

"But...it was for the Greater Good. Albus said so."

Remus snarled at her and only Tonks grabbing him stopped him from throttling the woman. She turned on Molly. "If you are not gone tonight, I will personally escort Remus to Amelia and help him file charges against you. What you did to Hermione and Harry is unforgivable."

As Remus and Tonks turned around, they found the twins standing there holding their wands. Both looked at them in suspicion when Fred spoke. "Remus...Tonks...we swear we didn't know. Harry and Hermione were like our sister and brother and we already know we screwed up with Harry this past year. We'd hoped to make things right with him when we went back to school but it was already too late. We'd never let something like _that_ happen to them if we knew."

Remus nodded but it was Tonks who spoke. "Thanks guys but what's done is done."

The normally exuberant teens were all business and for that alone, they knew the twins were telling the truth. "We know and we're sorry for not watching better. We feel responsible for what happened because we didn't pay attention just like Ginny in her first year."

Tonks said. "Hindsight and all that. Maybe it'd be better if you moved into the flat above your store. You can't stay here anymore but I wouldn't want to live in that house either with those traitors."

George nodded. "We understand and will be gone tonight. Um...if you're going to go on the offensive...we'd like to help. We need to get rid of Voldemort first and then we can clean up the _rest_ of the trash."

Molly started to rant at them as they had all but forgotten she was still there. Fred cut her off. "You may be our mother but _we_ are of age and can make our own decisions from now on."

George jumped in. " _And_ you can count on us speaking to our brothers about what we learned tonight. Now that dad in gone, thanks to your insistence that we all follow that whiskered old wanker, William _is_ the _head_ of the family now and won't think too much of what you and your children have done to two we thought of as our own."

With that, they turned and went to their rooms to pack and were gone within fifteen minutes.

**ALM**

Moody and Harry sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast the next morning when an owl found its way through the wards and landed in front of Moody. He cast a quick scan of it before untying the letter and sending the owl on its way.

He read the letter and chuckled a bit before a scowl came across his face and he slammed the letter down. It broke Harry out of his own thoughts and he said "What?"

"Freaking Weasleys. Freaking Albus. Damn the lot of them."

"What happened now?"

"Shit...too much." He looked at Harry for a minute before deciding to tell him what the letter said.

"Remus kicked everyone out of headquarters last night and quit the Order. Tonks too."

"Why?"

"It seems the Weasleys were in on a plot to separate you and Granger. They potioned you both. She got influenced. You didn't. It's what caused her to change"

Harry shook his head but didn't say anything for a minute. "Who did it?"

"Molly brewed them, Ginny wanted you so was all for it. Ronald slipped both of you the potions. Albus was in on it somehow but in what way is not known at the moment."

Harry stood and started pacing. "The twins? Arthur?"

"Don't think Arthur would be a part of something like that. Just my take on him. The twins swore they didn't know. Said you were like a brother to them and wouldn't let something like that happen if they knew. Even planned to make things right with you when school started back but you died."

Harry only nodded. "Hermione?"

"The potions...they took control of her. Broke her down and made her willing for the little bastard. She is paying for her betrayal."

"How? Does she think feeling guilty about it is enough? Does she think the broken bond didn't about kill me?"

Moody sighed. "She knew what she did when she did it but couldn't stop it. She thinks that's part of the reason why you didn't fight back against the dementors. She knew she was damned once she could think about breaking the bond. Just like those who helped break it. They'll burn for it son."

"Yeah but in the meantime...I have to live with the pain. I had to _die_ to escape what everyone was doing to me."

"She's paying son...believe me."

Harry stopped and glared at him. "You said that before. What are you talking about?"

Moody slammed his fist down. Angry at what all had happened and at Albus for allowing it. "She bound herself to the little bastard. She's his freaking slave now to use as he pleases. She did it so she'd never have to feel the pain of what she did to you anymore."

Harry shouted. "That slave crap is about the stupidest thing I've ever heard of."

"She's bound as his sex slave son. Her emotions are now tied to his. She told Tonks that as long as the little bastard is fed and getting some, he's happy so she is too."

"Merlin Pops...does magic make everyone freaking stupid?"

Moody chuckled. "Maybe so. Her parents left without her. They escaped 'protective custody'."

Harry chuckled. "They are smart people. They probably felt threatened. They wrote me during fourth year wanting to know what was wrong with their daughter. If they felt threatened, and they did at times, Jake would have taken Miranda and ran. She is his life. If Hermione acted with them like she did with me, they probably felt they didn't have a choice. She would have told someone they were planning to leave."

"Yeah...Tonks pretty much confirmed everything you said. Remus suspects something. He says he wants to help me and my _partner_."

"What do you think?"

"I don't know. At least he's sober now and seeing things the way they really are. He's expecting Albus to try and talk to him this morning. He's preparing himself for the 'disappointed in you' speech."

Harry chuckled now that he'd calmed down. "Don't miss those at all."

"Me either"

"Pops?"

"Yeah?"

"When this is all over, I'm gonna pull that crazy assed house down on top of them. Maybe I'll get them all."

Moody looked thoughtful. "What about Granger?"

"If the prick is dead, she'd be free wouldn't she?"

"You'd take her back?"

"As a friend...maybe. But never more. The way we worded the bond...if one of us betrayed the other...there could never be love between us again. I don't think I'd want her anyway after she's been with _him_."

"Point. I'll probably help you pull the Burrow down. From what I read. Remus and Tonks would too as would the twins. The twins said they wanted to help get rid of Voldy and then take out the rest of the trash."

Harry chuckled. "I need to blow something up. Anything on the alert wards?"

Moody nodded. "The wards on both places were probed last night. My guess is any time now. Now that she has Fudge gelded for the moment, Amelia is going through the Ministry and cleaning out the threats. He'll go after her sooner than later."

"Pop? Something is bothering me about the whole Hermione thing."

"What's that?"

"The potion didn't effect me."

"Yeah so...it shows you were truly in love with her and were able to fight off the potion."

"Then why did it effect her?"

Moody shook his head. "Remus said they increased her dosage until she broke. They didn't care whether it hurt her or not so they kept going until she slept with Ron. I'm guessing they wouldn't risk harming you by increasing yours. Albus probably wouldn't allow it either."

Harry nodded. "So she was collateral damage in the battle to gain control of Harry Potter. Anything else is just too unsettling to consider."

"Aye...I see your point. It'd take pretty dark magic or high powered potions to fool a bond. That's why the penalty is so high magically when you do so but the results are the same either way. You burn in the end."

"But..."

Moody held up his hand. "I know son. She wasn't truly responsible. Maybe the Magical Goddess and the Great Father will see it for what it was as well as what she did to try and atone for it. Despite your anger, I know you still care for her but we won't really know until we know."

Harry nodded. "Alright pops. It's not like I can do anything about it at this point anyway."


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Don't own Harry Potter. %$^

Thanks for the support. Things start to change so...on with the show.

Chapter 6

Harry and Moody spent the day rechecking equipment and thinking about all they learned that morning. By dinner time, they were both anxious to do something to take their minds off it. As they sat at the table, neither were talking very much and remained in their own thoughts.

Harry finally broke the silence. "Hey Pops...I think it'd be okay if we let Remus and Tonks in but I'd want you to get an oath before they find out who your partner is."

Moody nodded. "Probably a good idea. You and me alone aren't going to be able to handle a large assault."

"Yeah but who can really handle fighting with the odds we are. Four ain't much better than two plus we know each others moves. Adding someone else in might cause problems."

Moody nodded. "They'll have to train with us before they go out on a mission. You do realize that when he hits either of the next targets, he's gonna have a lot of bodies there?"

"Yep...got a special plan for it too."

Moody chuckled. "You been playing with your balls again junior?"

Harry laughed. "Every day"

Moody grinned. "They say that'll make you go blind."

"Must be why I need glasses. Well if it gets any worse, I can always get one of those crazy eyes like you."

"Makes the ladies swoon it does."

"I do not want to hear you telling any more stories about you and Nana. That's just so wrong."

Moody just threw his head back and laughed. "So what did you come up with this time?"

Harry smiled. "Modified transfiguration runes. Nana will be so proud. Turns everything within fifteen meters into ice for five minutes. I call them snow balls."

"How's that do any good...wait...blanket the area with blasting hexes and then they're just piles of ice until they revert into..."

"Yeah exactly"

Moody sighed. "We may need it on this next one."

"Probably so. I also made some I call blue balls."

Moody snorted. "Let me guess. Directed blungeoner that focusing on the family jewels?"

Harry chuckled but it was an evil one. Moody was so proud. "Close, directed blungeoner followed by a directed castration hex thirty seconds later."

"Why? You already have them down."

"But not out. By the time the castration hex fires, their hands will be over their goolies so we get their hands at the same time. They may live but what kind of life will it be?"

Moody chuckled darkly. "You could also call it the line ender."

Neither home was attacked that night although the wards were twinging as they were being probed. The wait was driving both men crazy as they would much rather be fighting than sitting around on a high level of alert that an attack could come at any moment. They were even holding off on sparring and dueling so conserve their physical and magical energy.

**ALM**

The next day, Malfoy Manor was a hub of activity as Voldemort planned his next raid. Amelia Bones was his primary target at the moment followed by Alastor Moody and whoever was helping him. He planned to lead the raid personally tonight and make sure Bones was eliminated. He only hoped that Moody would show up there so that he could take out two problems at once. He was no longer concerned about Dumbledore as he had been effectively neutered. Granted he still had to die but since he wasn't a major threat at the moment, he could wait. The vaunted Order of the Phoenix was in shambles too if Snape's report was believed. The once feared fighting arm of the Order was now gone and in its place were women, children, and those too old to put up a decent fight. He rejoiced that the 'Light' was so splintered at the moment and could only praise himself since the death of Harry Potter basically was the catalyst to make that faction ineffective.

His only worry was that the fighters for the 'light' would reform under a new leader. Hopefully, he could eliminate Moody before he became that leader and his DE's were put to the test. As insurance to his success, the entire inner circle would be with him at Amelia Bones' home. He was just thankful that she didn't live at Bones Manor where the ancient war wards could be deployed against his forces. He'd need those forces when he went after the Greengrass family for defying him and their house was well equipped when it came to wards.

By the time dinner came around, the large banquet hall was filled with his troops. Knowing there was a possibility that some may not survive the attack, he wanted to make sure they all at least had a last decent meal.

**ALM**

Amelia came home early tonight from the Ministry as she was expecting a very special guest for dinner. Her great-niece, Susan, was coming to spend the evening and night with her. It was a usual occurrence in the past to do this weekly but Amelia was extremely busy at the Ministry trying to do her best to clean it out from Voldemort's supporters. It even worked to get her off the cases of her former teammates in trying to figure out what they were doing. She knew Poppy and Minnie were back at Hogwarts after taking a vacation to who knows where. She assumed it was wherever Moody was since Minnie and him couldn't stay away from each other for very long. She just wished she knew for a fact who Moody's partner in crime was. She had her suspicions but confirmation would be good. Little did she know that she would get that very thing tonight.

After a private dinner, she and Susan retired to the sitting room so they could indulge in girl talk. It was something they did ever since Susan was little. She cast the opening salvo. "So Susie...how was Hogwarts this year?"

"Not the same. With Harry not there, most of us were scared to move about unless we were in a group. The dark kids seemed to think they were empowered to do whatever they wanted to whoever they wanted. After what happened to Granger, even the light guys seem suspicious. There's only a few boys I'll even hang around with anymore. Neville one of them."

Amelia frowned. "Dark kids...that sounds..."

"Death eater's kids. You know from the dark families. I guess it's better than the little bastards as some people call them."

Amelia was shocked. "Susie..."

Susan smiled sweetly. "And that's why I call them the dark kids."

"Fine...you called your friend Granger. Why's that?"

Susan sighed. "Cause she's not my friend anymore. Not really. Her _master_ won't let her out of his sight and I refuse to be around that traitor."

Amelia nodded. "Understandable. Some of the things I've heard have not left a very good impression about him."

Susan snorted. "Good impression? Ha! He might as well be a little Malfoy the way he acts and he had the audacity to say that he was the brains and skill behind Harry Potter. As if! Harry had more skill and brains and power in his little finger than Ronald Weasley will ever have!"

"Sounds like someone is still hung up on Mr. Potter."

Susan blushed. "Maybe a little."

"You know he's gone don't you?"

Susan teared up them tried to wipe from her eyes. "That's what everyone says but I don't believe it. It has to be some kind of sick joke or prank."

Amelia found this interesting. "Why do you think that?"

Susan was getting fired up in his defense and Amelia loved in when Susan became passionate about something as it just made her glow. "Okay think about this. Even if he was with his muggle cousin...two dementors would be nothing for him. He chased off over a hundred that night at Hogwarts. I didn't see it but Hermione did. Back then, she didn't lie about anything. Not like now. Of course I think Weasley makes her say things bad about Harry at times so that Ron will feel good about himself. He still gets so jealous when someone talks about Harry."

"How so?"

"Well you know defense was horrid this year? (Amelia nodded) For one, Umbridge couldn't teach a niffler to find gold. Not to mention that sickly sweet voice makes me want to vomit. Well anyway, the text she made us read was all about how to surrender properly and wait for the Aurors to come save us. I mean really, her idea of defense was to throw your wand on the ground and hope the DE's don't kill you."

Amelia nodded. "I saw the text. From what I understand, she and Fudge were trying to prevent Dumbledore from training an army at the school. I think her real plans were to go after Harry Potter but after what happened, it was too late to find someone to fill the post and she got stuck there. I can say the Ministry was a much nicer place without her there."

Susan snorted. "I'll bet. I imagine if Harry was there, it would have gotten nasty between them and he wouldn't have backed down. Anyway, she was horrible and we weren't learning anything so someone came up with the plan to study real defense on our own. It was mainly fifth years at first then some others wanted to join in since we can't seem to have a decent defense teacher most years. I mean Lupin and Mad-Eye were the best we've had so far and you know how crazy Moody is. Plus from what we heard, it wasn't even Moody most of the year. It was some DE polyjuiced to be him."

Amelia nodded to confirm.

"Well we finally meet and they chose Weasley and Granger to lead us since they've been with Harry on most of his 'adventures'. So anyway, Weasley gets the big head and starts spouting off all kinds of garbage trying to make himself look better by saying Harry was nothing if it wasn't for him. He even downplayed Granger's role and we all knew she was the brains behind the trio. While Ron may have somewhat been a strategist, Harry was the power. But what no one really realized, and Granger wouldn't comment for fear of upsetting Ron, was Harry was brilliant and could turn almost any situation into a win. That's why I say two dementors wouldn't have been a problem because Harry just didn't lose."

Amelia's eyes were sparkling while Susan was on a roll. She sat back and enjoyed listening to her niece tell her story. "So...we weren't going to stand there and listen to MoRon bad mouth Harry so a group of us walked out. Sadly, it was mostly Gryffindors who stayed and they knew Harry better than the other houses but they listened to that crap and continued to train with the idiot until they were caught by Umbridge. The funny thing about it was Aunt Minnie didn't blink an eye when her house went to last place in the points and those twenty students were given detention. It was almost as if she was pleased for some reason."

Amelia smiled. "Let's just say Minerva had a good reason for it and leave it at that. You mentioned Neville earlier?"

Susan just smiled and didn't blush so she knew they were just friends. "Neville was one of the ones who I walked out of the meeting with. Hannah has a thing for him."

"Anyone else?"

"Not anyone really worth mentioning except maybe that Creevey boy whose family was attacked a few weeks ago."

"Oh?"

"Yeah Colin was...well he could be quite annoying but he is a nice kid. He practically worshiped Harry and would do anything for him. Harry was always looking out for him and was patient and nice to him."

"Hmmm...would he lie if he had seen Harry recently?"

Susan snorted. "In a heartbeat if Harry asked him too. Why?'

"Oh no reason. Just a theory I've been toying with."

Susan studied her aunt for a minute before a smile formed on her face. "You think Harry is alive too. But why would he hide?"

"Why indeed?"

Susan frowned. "His godfather dead. Yes I know Sirius Black was his godfather. Forced into a tournament. Getting spat on by the whole school for a year. His best friend abandoning him. Losing his girlfriend to his best friend. Being used in a ritual to bring Voldemort back to life. And then being sent back to his relatives who obviously didn't care for him. What reason would he have? To be free of course."

Amelia smiled. "Well aren't you the little detective? That's almost as complete as my files on him."

Susan snorted. "That's cause all the original information came from yours truly."

"True"

"So what do we do with that knowledge?"

"Leave it be. He'll return when he's ready."

"I hope so! I'd love to grab him and snog the heck out of him and help him get over Granger."

Amelia looked shocked. "Susie. That's no way for a proper young lady to act."

Susan snorted as Amelia began laughing. They couldn't enjoy their laughter for long as a loud gong sounded throughout the house. Amelia rose to look outside. "Shit. Okay Susie..time to get out of here. There's DE's out there trying to get in."

Susan got up and they both ran for the floo. Amelia threw the powder in and nothing happened. She then grabbed Susan and tried to apparate but that failed too. She then grabbed Susan and tapped her monocle with her wand to activate the portkey that wouldn't take either. "They've cut off escape."

Susan thought for a second. "What about Tiny? Couldn't he get us out of here?"

"Maybe. Tiny?"

She waited for a minute but he never came. "They must have somehow got him. It must have been one of my former guards. They probably summoned him and killed him."

"What are we going to do?"

"I guess we're going to have to fight and until we can escape. If you see an opening, run until your portkey activates."

"What about you?"

"Don't worry about me...you just get to safety. That's more important."

Susan recognized an order when she heard it and nodded. The house then shook again as the wards were taking a pounding to hurry up their fall. As a last resort, Amelia pulled her Auror guards back into the house and then pulled out her badge. Once in hand, she used her wand to tap all five points in the star calling in emergency help.

**ALM**

Moody sat in his favorite chair fully suited and waiting for the inevitable. The alert charm for Amelia's house finally began ringing. He yelled up the stairs. "Hey junior."

"Yeah?"

"They're hitting Amelia's place. Let's go."

Harry ran down the stairs just as ready as Moody was with his ever present 'goodie' fanny pack being strapped on. "You ready?'

Harry nodded. "As I'll ever be."

"Let's try to make it out of there alive. Our goal is to get Amelia out of there. Screw the house."

"Got it"

Harry stepped behind Moody and stood back to back with his wand already out. As soon as he felt Harry back against him, Moody activated the portkey.

They landed in a hot zone for as soon as they appeared, curses were flying at them from all directions. They both hit the ground and came up firing. Moody yelled "Better thin the crowd." Harry pulled out the Scorpion and started spraying fire in front of him. He drained a clip and then popped in another. He yelled "switch" and they both took a step to the right as they swung around and Harry was able to spray another volley of bullets in that direction. They repeated this two more times clearing out their immediate area and hopefully a little beyond.

Up ahead towards the house, they could hear the high-pitched voice of Voldemort issuing orders and then they saw the flash of magic as the wards fell.

Harry whispered. "I thought Amelia had top-of-the-line wards? They haven't been on site for more than five minutes and they already have the wards down?"

Moody grunted. "Let's deal with this first and then we'll figure out how they did it."

They moved towards the house and could hear the spell fire followed by screaming. They moved quickly and caught up to several groups moving towards the front door from different angles and were just in sight of the front door when they saw a flash of green from inside the house. Knowing they didn't have much time, Harry took out some of his balls and started lobbing them in the direction of the groups. The first to activate was one of the death balls in the middle of a group of six. They were down a minute later.

The next to go off was a snow ball which was followed by a wide area blasting hex by Moody normally used for digging holes in the dirt but cast at waist height. Five more dropped to that one when their pelvises shattered basically cutting them in half. Harry turned to look for another target of his balls and found just what he was looking for. A group of somewhat smaller men were standing around watching the activities. They were out of sight of Voldemort as the other groups were so Tom didn't know he was losing troops rapidly. While Harry was tossing the balls around, Moody was taking out as many as he could find before they went after the main group. He used his eye to check for more DE's and found most on the other side of the house. They weren't immediate threats so they could wait.

Harry focused on the group he was watching and activated the blue ball after hearing the voice of one of his favorite people. The ball was in their midst before they could react. It went off a second later and Harry watched in glee as they all immediately bent over. He did a quick count in his head as smiled as the second spell fired. The screams that erupted out of their mouths would no doubt alert everyone that new players were on the field.

Moody growled out. "You just had to test it didn't you?"

Harry grinned. "Abso-freaking-lutely. That's Draco and his butt boys. I'm sure many girls will feel much safer in the castle now that Draco can't use his hands or goolies anymore."

Moody snorted. "Time for the main event."

Moody took a step forward and then turned and fired into the dark. That he fired an AK was surprising but not out of character for him. Harry asked. "What the hell was that?"

"Big freaking assed snake. Let's take the bastard down for good if we can."

Harry then pulled out four balls at random and hit the activation rune. He held them to a count of ten and then started hurling them and flashes were going off as they moved forward to engage the enemy. Just as they arrived Harry had a Ruger in one hand while his wand as in the other. Harry fired three times in quick succession putting down three silver masked idiots.

Voldemort made it inside with a few of his inner circle after stunning and binding the two Auror guards. Since they massively outnumbered and overpowered the occupants of the home, they were able to overwhelm Amelia quite quickly. This was why Tom had such a large force on this mission. He knew he would need numbers and the ward breaking devices to take them down as fast as he could and then there was no telling how many people they would encounter in Amelia's home. It was known that she held meetings, with her most trusted lieutenants, away from the ministry to ensure secrecy. With both guards down, Amelia was forced to split her attention between protecting herself and Susan with little effect because she was facing over twenty DE's and the chief snake himself. The numbers against her were intentional because most feared the fearsome witch's wand and even Tom respected her for it as well even though she had to die because he knew she would never turn to his side. Susan was moving for cover to try and escape when she was hit with a body binding spell. She landed behind the sofa she was trying to use as cover with a loud thump. It was enough to distract Amelia just enough for a curse to sneak in past her defenses which which led to more curses and hexes sneaking through and taking her down. If Harry and Moody had seen the battle, they would have been very impressed with the way Amelia held them all off so that Susan could possibly get to safety.

Once Amelia was down, the DE's moved in to secure both ladies. Susan was hauled to her feet and the binding charm canceled. They wanted her to watch the destruction of her aunt before she too would succumb to their ministrations. The fact that they had her by both arms as she fought and struggled was just foreplay to the two DE's. With his stinky breath and also reeking of body odor, one of her captors began softly telling her all about what was to befall her once her aunt was dead. The threats of multiple rapes and tortures were what she could look forward to before they killed her. He taunting her by saying that if they found her more fun than the usual, they may let her live for a while as their plaything until everyone grew tired of her and then maybe they would kill or give her to the werewolves. Her struggling increased as they two nasty men laughed at her. All the while, she was pleading with the gods of magic to send someone to rescue her and Amelia.

**ALM**

As he was concentrating on the battle inside, Tom didn't know his forces outside were being decimated. He was very focused on Amelia as she had long been a thorn in his side from as far back as the first war. At her current level and with the chance she could be elected to the Minister's position, Tom knew she had to be eliminated only he wanted to savor the moment. As the body bind on Susan was removed, two of the inner circle hauled her to her feet to watch as her aunt was being tortured. Amelia's scream was enough to force Harry and Moody to rush the house. Bullets and spells were flying as the group bunched at the door were systematically being taken down. While there weren't so many left that impeded their movement, they still had to leap over bodies as they made their way inside.

Just as they cleared the door, Tom heard a loud bang and then felt a sharp pain in his wand arm. With his focus on the torture spell broken, he looked down to see his black blood oozing from the wound. Another look around and he could see Moody and his partner moving to confront them.

He hissed out. "Kill them now. Make this night's victory complete."

The younger man started laughing at him and threw three balls in his direction. Voldemort tried to banish the balls and manged to hit one before two sunk under his spell and landed on the ground. Pain erupted next as cutting curse flew in all directions. Voldemort now sported gashes all along his body but was protected from the worst of them by the rituals he had performed to make his body able to withstand such spells. His minions were no so protected and many more fell to the curses.

Harry reacted quickly to the ball that was banished back at him as he caught it in a spell and deflected it towards one of the other groups that were now making their way towards him and Moody. The snow ball froze them in their tracks but Moody and Harry had no time to deal with them as their hands were busy fighting Tom and what remained of the inner circle.

Harry continued the assault, unloading a clip of 9mm into the inner circle and then switching out hands to the other and drop the other wand into his now free hand. He put two more bullets into Tom's chest before tracking a DE who was trying to slink off. Two more quick shots and that DE was on the floor leaking blood from the tail he tucked as he tried to sneak away. Harry could have easily hit the man in the head but this one seemed familiar and he hoped he'd get the chance to find out who it was.

Tom now had to make a choice. He could stay and fight and continue to lose his inner circle to these two demons or he could run away to heal up and attempt it again. He really wanted to stay and fight. His anger was high and his blood was boiling but the situation was becoming unwinnable with his wand arm all but useless at this point. It would be another five minutes before his wards would come down. If he waited, he would then have to face Moody and his partner AND whoever else was in the house if there was anyone else. If that was not enough, he knew that the Auror teams would be aborted but couldn't count on some of the off duty Aurors not showing up.

He knew he didn't have five minutes before his entire team would be down. Just as he thought it, he mentally summoned Nagini back to him and got no response. Had they killed his familiar already? He barely had enough time to think this as Peter, who was standing in front of him acting as a shield, was thrown into him with a clear shot through the head. He could see what the younger man was holding and knew it was a gun. Something they had no defense against other than conjuring a wall and was the answer to how so many of his followers were being killed other than those magical balls and some pretty devastating spell work courtesy of both of the attackers.

He then did the only thing he could think of. He fired off an AK at each of them with his off hand causing them to dodge out of the way and ordered the retreat and vanished before either could resume their attack on him. All around, some of his inner circle began to disappear as well. Some were unconscious and couldn't activate their portkeys while some of them couldn't because their portkeys were destroyed. Unlike in the past, the injured DE's were left as the others knew to tarry even a second could mean their death.

Moody finally said. "Stay here and protect the lasses junior. They had to use a sapper on the wards so I'm gonna blast it so the wards will recover." A few minutes later, there was an explosion and a magical wave washed over the area. Harry managed to stay on his feet but everyone else was tossed about like confetti.

Harry stood straight and brushed himself off before beginning to check himself over for injuries. He had multiple cuts, some pretty deep but most not, and his clothes were ripped up but there were no truly serious injuries. He was just happy most of the DE's were such lousy shots when they were under fire. He looked over to Moody who was slowly moving back into the house and noticed his injuries were mostly the same.

Harry walked over to Moody and smirked as he acted like he was checking the older man for injuries. "What's the matter old man, this getting to be too much for you?"

Moody slapped his hand away. "I ain't no spring chicken anymore but I still have enough in the tank to take out these bastards."

Harry chuckled. "You got that right pops. I'm just amazed we came out of that one as good as we did. I really expected us to need Poppy to put us back together."

"Me too son. Me too. We'd better still call Poppy or we'll never hear the end of it but let's go check the grounds and then get out of here before her Aurors arrive."

They fell into step as they moved out of the house. Harry said "Dammit!"

"What?"

"The tosser got away."

"Yeah but the last of his doodads are gone."

"Still, I hit him with two bullets and a ball and he just stood there like nothing was wrong."

"Rituals son. He strengthened his body so he could withstand a lot of damage. Did it in the first war too. He can be killed now though but I never said it'd be easy."

As they walked down the stairs, they came across the one Harry shot in the butt as he was trying to crawl away. "This one was familiar. I gotta see who it is."

Harry kicked the crawling man who went down from the added pain. Using his foot, Harry flipped him over. He waved his wand and the mask was torn from the face leaving a long, beak-like nose below beady black eyes. "Well hello Snivelous. Long time no see. I hope you know your little butt boys won't be going to Hogwarts this year and if they do, they might be missing parts. Hell, they might have to add some beds to the girls dorms."

Severus looked up into the hood Harry was wearing but couldn't see anything. He finally growled out. "Who are you?"

"Ah..that is a good question. I've been many things to many people. But I guess to you...I'm only two things. You're most hated student and...your executioner. Moody told Albus what would happen if you crossed us while playing with Tom and his death seekers."

He pulled off his hood to reveal a face Severus had gleefully thought he'd never have to see again. "Potter!"

"Aww Snivelous, you figured it out."

"Let me go. I have to get out of here before the Aurors arrive."

"Well you see that's the problem. I can't let you go because quite frankly, I'm going to kill you for what you've done to my parents, my godfather, and everyone else you've screwed over during your life. No Severus...Albus can't protect you anymore."

"You...you don't have the stones to do it."

Harry grinned. "Don't I. Look around you Sevy. Every single one of them were killed by me or Moody. We didn't know them for the bastards they were but we know you. Goodbye Sevy."

"Wait!"

"No...you've lived too long as it is." Harry pointed his wand and concentrated. A tight beam came out and bored straight between Snape's eyes. The body of his most hated teacher slumped to the ground. Harry reached down and grabbed Snape's mask. He thought he might keep it as a trophy or even as a way to taunt Albus. The possibilities were endless.

Moody stepped back in the door and canceled the binding charms on the guards before casting the spell to wake them up from the stuns they were hit with. He was suspicious of why they were still alive and would bring it up to Amelia. He then walked back over and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Let's go"

A few minutes after they were awoken, the guards stuck their heads out the door and looked around before gesturing inside that it was clear. A limping Amelia came out supported by Susan. She was visually scanning all the devastation along with the many bodies lying around. She caught Moody out of her eye and saw his partner but since they were not a threat, she didn't linger on them as she was getting a clear picturein her head.

Susan did a quick glance at the bodies but as the sight was gruesome, she couldn't look at them for long. She did see someone she thought she'd lost and Amelia didn't have time to react as her niece let go of her and headed straight for Moody's partner. She almost went down but caught herself before she fell. Harry barely had time to react as Susan slammed into him and forcibly kissed him for all she was worth. As tired as he was, Harry didn't stay upright and she took him to the ground never releasing his lips. As Amelia watched the scene in front of her, she couldn't help but chuckle as the kiss turned into a snog.

She waited another minute or two before she finally said something. "Susie...don't you think you need to let Mr. Potter breathe? He did just return from the dead. Besides...that's not how a proper young lady should act."

Moody snorted and walked over to her. She looked at him with grateful eyes. "Thank you Alastor. I don't think we would have lasted much longer."

"No you wouldn't have lass. He was here along with his inner circle and quite a few others."

"Still..I can't thank you enough especially with Susan here."

Moody chuckled. "I think if Voldie employed young Susan then we'd not been so successful. Seems she took the lad right out of the fight or is that the fight out of the lad."

Amelia let out a laugh despite the pain she was in. "That she did. I'd say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"Aye." He then shouted. "Hey junior...if you can find the time, how about we help Ami clean some of this mess up since her Aurors still haven't showed."

Amelia scowled at that. "Alastor..."

Moody patted Amelia on the shoulder. "If it helps, I did destroy a ward sapper. Expensive one too. I'd say he was trying to get in and out quickly."

"Yeah...evidently too fast for my alert teams to get here."

Moody nodded. " Go lass...find out what happened and take your guards with you. We'll see Susan home...IF SHE EVER PULLS HER LIPS AWAY FROM MY PARTNER."

Funnily...it wasn't Susan who responded but Harry as one arm unwrapped itself from around the affectionate girl and gave him the finger.

Amelia snorted. "That one doesn't fall too far from the tree either."

"Aye"

It was another minute before Susan released Harry and they slowly stood. Susan was sporting a full body blush as she thought of what she just did. She turned to Harry. "I...I knew you weren't gone. I knew two dementors would never be able to take you down. I told myself that if I ever saw you again I'd kiss you and let you know how much you were loved and wanted. At least by me. I couldn't act before because you were with Granger but now..."

Harry just smiled at her. "Can't say I wasn't surprised but well...you can't kiss me like that then expect to just walk away."

She blushed again. "I...I would never..."

Harry smiled and kissed her forehead. "Its okay Sue...I'd like to get to know you better too."

They were interrupted by Amelia. "Well...now that you're not rolling around in the grass...I need to find out why my Aurors never showed up. Susie...Alastor and Mr. Potter will see you home. I will contact you in the morning."

Susan broke from Harry and ran to her Aunt and gave her a tight hug. "Be careful Auntie"

"I will"

As Susan stepped back over to Harry, Moody spoke quietly to Amelia. "I can drop the lass off and then follow. I don't like you walking into an unknown. Something doesn't feel right."

"I agree."

"Then take the boy with you and leave your guards. He's as good as me and better in some ways. I'll be right behind you."

She nodded. "Change of plans...Mr. Potter, Alastor has graciously offered you as my escort while he sees Susan home. I'd suggest you put your hood back up."

Harry kissed Susan on the forehead again and pulled his hood up. She then hugged him tightly. "Take care of my aunt and yourself too. We have some unfinished business."

Harry mock saluted and said "Yes Ma'am" before walking over to Amelia and standing at her side.

Amelia then turned to her Aurors. "Start tagging and bagging. I'll send the investigation team directly."

One of the guards didn't like that scenario. "Madam Bones. Head Auror Scrimegour ordered us to stay by your side."

"And I am countering that order. I will be well protected won't I Mr. Potter?"

"Yes ma'am...with my life."

"See, I'll be completely safe. And I order you not to speak about Mr. Potter's presence here until I give approval. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am but...he's a rogue. We don't really know who he works for. Look at how many he's killed."

"Auror Stevens. Mr Potter fights for the light even if his methods are quite gray. I don't see you complaining about what Master Auror Moody did tonight so don't question his methods and be thankful he came and saved our hides tonight for without him, we would have been dead before the night was over."

"Yes Ma'am. And thank you Mr. Potter. Please keep Madam Bones safe."

Harry gave a nod. "You can be assured I will."

She grabbed his arm and they disappeared.

Moody did the same and he and Susan disappeared as well. As soon as they landed, Moody escorted her to the front door. Just as she was about to enter, he said. "You'll see him again lass. I'll make sure of it."

"Thank you Mr. Moody. And thank you for saving me and my aunt."

Moody nodded and then stepped away from the house and back through the wards before disappearing as well. He knew the night wasn't over as there must still be rats in the Auror force including one of her guards.

**ALM**

Amelia and Harry appeared directly in the Auror dispatch office. As soon as she was seen, the dispatcher jumped to her feet. "Madam Bones. I'm pleased to report that your test of the response team was successful. Two squads were ready on the pad with a third formed up to follow within seconds. We were then informed that it was a readiness exercise and that we performed within acceptable expectations and told to abort."

Amelia was barely controlling her fury. "I see. Who gave the order to abort?"

The dispatcher gulped before answering. "That would be Senior Aurors Thickness and Dawlish Ma'am."

Amelia's scowl deppened. "Did you not notice that it was a priority alert that can only be countermanded by myself? Ms. Quinley...I had Susan at my house and I had Voldemort himself WITH his inner circle who tore down my wards and then did their very best to kill us both along with my two guards. In the future, no priority alert is to be ignored and the Aurors WILL be dispatched to the location of the alert. AM I UNDERSTOOD?"

Quinley was quaking in her shoes. "Yes Ma'am."

"Now...where are Aurors Thickness and Dawlish?"

"They were heading back to the DMLE offices ma'am. Do you want me to call them for you?"

"No and you will not inform anyone that I am here."

"Yes Ma'am."

Amelia and Harry left the dispatch area and made their way to the offices. She first stopped to check Thickness' office and found he wasn't there. She was muttering under her breath as she realized just where they might be and headed for her office. As they got to her door, Moody was just stumping his way towards them. She gave him a glance. "Susan safe?"

"Dropped her right at her door and didn't leave until she was inside. Situation?"

"Thanks. Thickness and Dawlish declared the alert a drill and ordered a stand down. They weren't in Pius' office so I'm guessing they came here."

Moody nodded. "For their sakes, I hope they ain't. Orders?"

"If they draw a wand, put them down hard."

"Alright...junior in front. Cast a shield and then fire through it. Incapacitate at first but if they throw anything really bad. Take them down permanently."

Harry reloaded one of the Rugers and then dropped his wand into his off hand. With shield already in place, Amelia opened the door and stepped out of the way."

Thickness was sitting in Amelia's chair with his feet propped up on the desk. Dawlish was in front with his back turned to the door but his feet were up as well. Both were not in any position to defend or go on the offensive and were barely moving once the door opened as they had drinks in their hands like they were toasting something.

Harry burst through the door and had both covered by the Ruger. Both looked at Harry as Amelia came through the door. "I think you gentlemen are a bit premature to be trying out my desk to see if it fits you. By the way you've acted, I'd say you were aware of what was planned tonight so that is at the least conspiracy to commit murder. But... as it was an act to take control of the rightful government through acts of subversion and assassination, I think I could make treason stick as well. Oh...and since you were already a part of the established government and were trying to make a coup to take over, I could go ahead and order your execution for mutiny."

Thickness finally stood. "Come now Amelia. It was a simple mistake. Besides, I'm a pure-blood...you can't just execute me. I'm entitled to my rights by law."

"You're right Pius, I cannot order anyone in my command to carry out that order. How foolish of me to forget."

"I'm glad you're seeing reason now Amelia. I apologize for being in your office and will return to my own."

"Not just yet Pius. You see, you are right. _I_ cannot order your execution but what I can do is give you over to these two fine gentlemen to do with you as they please. You see, they are just two private citizens exercising their rights to defends themselves from anyone who would cause them harm."

Pius looked at her in fear. He knew what Moody was doing recently and wanted no part of the crazy ex-Auror. He knew what Moody thought of traitors and was well aware of the fate that awaited him much like his DE brethren if Moody caught them. "I see. In that case, may I at least know the identity of the one hidden under the hood?"

Moody felt Harry's eyes on him and gave him a nod. It wouldn't make much difference anyway in a few minutes. Harry didn't want to take down his shield or move the gun from either of these two DE's. "Madam Bones...would you do the honors?"

She smirked. "Certainly...this should be fun!"

Once the hood was down, both looked at Harry with wide eyes. Harry could only chuckle. "surprise surprise"

"You're dead."

"I got better."

It was all it took as both men went for their wands at the same time. Harry put a bullet through Dawlish's head then sidestepped to place Amelia further behind the shield. The Ruger jumped again as Thickness' throat was blown out and he fell to the floor."

Harry dropped the shield but kept his gun firmly pointed in the Senior Auror's direction. Amelia stepped forward and leaned down to Pius. "Your Dark Lord ran away after having his ass kicked by those two. Many of your compatriots are lying on my lawn dead or dying. You will make fine additions to that lot and I will see to it that everyone knows what you were...even your families. They will now have to not only bear the burden of knowing their husbands and fathers were evil men...but they were also selfish as by their own actions cost their families the pension and death benefits that would have been their due had they been honorable men."

Amelia stood and walked back out of her office. As soon as she left, Harry began transfiguring the two bodies into simple stones while Moody set about cleaning up the crime scene.

As they finished, both disappeared from the office and landed back on Amelia's lawn. Harry threw the stones down and then canceled the spell on them making them lie there for all to see. As an added bonus, he reached down and ripped the sleeves off their robes exposing their dark marks.

Harry was about to make a joke about how they could go into the assassin business with the way they could clean a crime scene but it fell flat as he could tell Moody was upset by this. They were probably his trainees at one point. Harry just turned and said "I'm going home" and disappeared.

Moody stood there and waited for Amelia to return. Tonight was assuredly a victory but it was still bittersweet. As soon as Amelia arrived with her investigation and clean up team, Moody called over the two guards. As they came to attention in front of him and Amelia, he cast a binding charm on them and watched as they fell to the ground. Without waiting for her to respond, Moody tore their sleeves revealing the Dark Mark on Auror Stevens arm. Without a glance back, Moody cast a piercing hex between his eyes. The other Auror was released and stood there staring at his partner with wide eyes. His eyes then turned to Moody whose wand was pointing in his direction. "Do you support that madman as well...just like your partner?"

He went to attention. "No Sir! Never!" He then went as far as swearing an oath on his life and magic.

Moody nodded. "Good man. You're lucky to be alive tonight Jones. People may say I'm paranoid but I'm still alive and I made sure I knew just who my partners were."

"Yes Sir! I...I don't think I'll ever make that mistake again."

Moody looked at Amelia and gave her a nod before activating his portkey and disappearing.

**ALM**

Once he was back home, Harry sat at his desk and wrote out a message. Once he was done, he called for Dobby. Dobby was then there with a 'pop'.

"What cans Dobby be doing for Master Harry?"

"Hey buddy...can you take this message to Susan Bones. I think she lives in Bones Manor."

Dobby grinned. "Would this be the same Missy Susan that Master was making kissy with not long ago?"

Harry blushed. "How'd you know that?"

"Dobby always watches over Master Harry."

"Yeah okay...yes that Susan Bones."

With another 'pop', Dobby was gone. Harry began taking off his clothes and making his way to the shower.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Thanks for the support and reviews. They make me feel like I'm contributing to our FF world again instead of just reading all the time.

This chapter is less war-like and more fluffiness (for lack of a better term) where Harry starts to allow himself to feel emotions other than anger and hateful feelings. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 7

Susan was sitting with her parents in the family room telling them about the attack and her finally seeing Harry. When her father left the room for a few minutes, Susan proceeded to tell her mother of her reaction to Harry's appearance and how things went from there. Her face was bright red but Janice Bones knew her daughter well and knew she wouldn't have done that for just any guy. When her father came back in the room, the conversation turned back to the attack and hoping that Amelia was alright as it seemed she had more to deal with that night than a _mere_ attack.

Her father was already thinking of what they could do for the two men who saved their precious daughter and aunt from the dregs of society who seemed to be able to run unchecked. They didn't blame Amelia for the problems of the day even though she was over law enforcement as they knew very well that budget cuts were devastating to their Auror force over the years and they were unprepared to fight a war.

Just as it began to quiet down again, a soft pop occurred beside Susan. "Master Harry sends yous a message Missy Susan."

At first she was startled but then heard what Dobby said. "Is Harry okay?"

"Master Harry bes very tired Missy Susan. As Dobby left, Master Harry was going to take shower and then go to bed."

She took the note and quickly opened it. A smile formed on her face as she read and then she clutched it to her chest as she started laughing and held the ring in her hand.

 _Susan,_

 _As directed, Madam Bones was delivered to the Ministry and remained that way until I left her in the care of Master Auror Moody. By now, I would assume they are back at her estate taking care of things._

 _Enclosed you will find a ring that, when tapped with your wand, will let me know if you are in trouble and need my assistance. With that in mind, please only use it for that purpose as I will be coming to you prepared for battle._

 _On another note, I would like the opportunity to continue our discussion from earlier this evening. If that is acceptable to you, please let Dobby know and I will plan on coming by to pick you up around 7 this Friday evening. If that is inconvenient, we can reschedule for another time._

 _Unfortunately, my life is not my own at the moment so things have a way of happening that Moody and I feel we must respond to as no one else will. I know it seems like I am taking too much on my shoulders but I feel it is necessary for all of us to have a future worth living. It is a future that you made much brighter for myself earlier this evening._

 _Please remember that I am dead and for me to move freely at this time, I need to remain so. I'm sure you've informed your parents of the events of this evening so please ask them to keep it to themselves for now. The time is fast approaching that my life will be my own once again and it is my hope that you will be around to help me celebrate that day._

 _Harry_

 _PS: Please excuse me sounding like a pure-blood ponce. I've only been around adults these last few years and it kinda changes a guy but I knew I couldn't write like Moody talks. I mean...could you really figure out. Grunt. "You" "Me" "Date" "Dinner" "Snog" Grunt...weird eye rolling all over the place until it lands on you and makes you think its studying your underwear._

Janice looked at her and said "Well"

Susan held up her hand at her mother asking her to hold on and turned to Dobby. She gave him a grin. "Paper?"

Dobby snapped his fingers and a piece of parchment appeared. She began to open her mouth again as he held out a quill to her and gave her a smirk. She did a double take. Did elves smirk? Well he is Harry's.

She began scribbling something down after thinking for a minute and then once she was finished, she had a smirk of her own showing on her face.

She handed it to Dobby and told him 'thank you' before he popped away.

Janice smiled sweetly. "You know...a young man giving you a ring is tantamount to asking you for your hand."

Susan rolled her eyes. "Really mum. We only snogged that once. It's not like he's going to ask me to marry him already. (Her eyes cut over to her father and she smirked.) I'm sure I'll have to take him to bed at least before I get a proposal."

Her father choked on the tea he was drinking and both ladies started laughing. "It's only a friendship ring...kind of. He said that if I'm ever in trouble again, to tap it with my wand and he'll come running with wands blazing."

"Oh my...a protector then. And you say you only snogged him?"

"Yes mother but he asked for a repeat Friday night."

"I don't see why not."

Hiram Bones stood from his chair and with the mutter of 'evil women' he began to make his way to the door. Before he stepped out Susan called out. "Daddy?"

"Yes sweetie?"

"Harry Potter is dead and he asked that he remain so at this time."

Hiram nodded. "Of course. It's the least we could do for what he did tonight. We can swear an oath to Amelia if he feels it's necessary."

"Thank you Daddy."

"You're welcome Sweetie. I'll just go polish my wand. I think it'll need to be right shiny before Friday night."

Janice snorted. "The young man just stood up to you-know-who and fights beside Mad-Eye Moody. I love you darling but I don't think he'll feel very threatened plus...how do you expect to kill a dead man?"

**ALM**

At Moody's house, Harry was just climbing into bed when Dobby appeared and handed him a note.

 _Junior,_

 _Grunt_

 _Me_

 _You_

 _Dinner_

 _Snog_

 _Friday_

 _If fight_

 _Try again_

 _XXX_

 _PS: Me thinks one of those crazy eyes might be a good idea so I can see what you're hiding underneath those combat clothes. You've grown into a rather nice looking man. Not that you weren't cute before._

Harry chuckled before laying down. His thoughts were on the rather heated kiss Susan gave him and how nice it had been. The pain in his heart from the broken bond lessened just a little bit. Maybe...just maybe...the pain from the bond he had carried ever since Hermione broke it would finally begin to fade away. For the first time in two years, his dreams finally began to change and it was no longer Hermione who starred in them but a beautiful red-headed young lady who showed him that she cared.

**ALM**

Harry woke the next morning to find a letter lying on his night stand. It confused him for a minute but after he put on his glasses, he recognized the hand writing as something he read just last night.

 _Dear Harry,_

 _I'm writing this as I'm laying in bed so that you'll have a real letter in the morning. I'll have my elf Daisy give it to Dobby for you. While the first part of the note was very eloquent compared to what I remember through fourth year, your post script really did things to me._

 _First off, thank you again for tonight. Not only for saving me but Aunt Amelia too. She is very dear to me._

 _Secondly, thank you for escorting her to the Ministry. Judging by the way she was reacting, there were Death Eaters there too. I know you protected her so thank you again for that._

 _The ring was a very thoughtful gift and I will use it appropriately as I know you cannot show yourself at this time. Speaking of that, how will we go out if you cannot be seen. Hmm...I'll leave the logistics up to you but it is definitely a yes. I understand that something may come up and you may have to cancel or run out on me at the last minute and I will try to not let it bother me as I do understand that your life is not your own at this time. I do however look forward to celebrating with you when it is._

 _On another note, my mother made an innuendo concerning the ring. You do know that men give rings to ladies when they are proposing marriage? Anyway, that question might even get a yes depending on how well you do Friday night._

 _On to more serious stuff again. I'm sorry for what all you went through at Hogwarts and I'm sorry Hermione didn't turn out to be the friend to me and more to you that we thought she was. I'm also very sorry that I did not stand with you as I should have. I feel as if I have also played my part by not helping you during the events and against the people who forced you into your current situation. I hope one day you will trust me enough to tell me the full story as I'm sure what I've heard and seen do not even scratch the surface._

 _I hope you know that I am here if you need to talk to someone your own age. Maybe we can start by me telling you about life at Hogwarts since you've been gone unless that would be rude as you would consider it me rubbing it in your face since I'm able to be there. Well, you can tell me your thoughts on it and we'll go from there._

 _Last but not least, before retiring for the night, I told my parents that Harry Potter was dead and needed to remain that way for now. They agreed and my father said it was the least we could do after what you and Moody did for our family last night. If it needs to be taken further, they said they would be willing to swear an oath to Aunt Amelia about the subject. I'll leave it up to you but I can say my family already feels we owe you a debt and the Bones family always repays their debts._

 _Yours,_

 _Susan_

Harry lay back and thought about all she wrote. It sounded like a good idea. Not only maybe dating her but writing on a regular basis. He loved his life now compared to before but he missed being with people his own age. And Susan was gorgeous. He always thought so but he was with Hermione at that time. Still, would it be a mistake to go from one serious or semi-committed relationship to another. Should he date others when he finally had a life again before settling down? They were questions that he couldn't answer right now and he surely couldn't talk to pops about it. Maybe when Poppy came by again he could bring it up. She seemed to have a caring side when he wasn't a patient.

**ALM**

Things were quiet for the next few weeks. It was evident to Amelia, Moody, and Harry that Tom took a royal beating that night and was probably trying to figure out what to do next. The loss of half of his inner circle along with three of his spies within the Aurors would put a serious dent in his plans for quite a while. Harry thought a little differently, since he knew how Tom thought, and that was that good old Tom was scared.

In either war, he didn't face many opponents who could stand toe to toe with him and still walk away. Harry also thought that after he recovered, he would go check on his Horcruxes. The only one he couldn't get to at the moment was the one at Hogwarts because without Snape and the junior DE's, he would have to rely on new and unreliable assets not that Draco and his gang were ever very reliable. Harry was pretty sure that Tom now knew that his horcruxes were gone. If he knew, then he would know he was mortal once again and his fear of death would force him to remain hidden. Harry was still kicking himself for not getting a head shot in and ending this once and for all.

Minerva and Poppy came to visit before they had to start getting ready for the new school year and were a wealth of information. For some unknown reason to them, quite a few of the death eater children withdrew from school. Moody caught Harry's eye and they both snorted leading to an explanation of the true situation. Both ladies were both horrified and overjoyed at the same time as they knew their school year just got that much easier.

Another tidbit of information was that Albus was going spare over the loss of Severus. All his plans revolved around the information on DE activity he got from Snape. Moody had to laugh at that because most of the information they received from the so-called spy was too little too late. They also revealed that they were the reason Snape was no longer around as he got caught in the battle at Amelia's house. Harry proved true to his words and took the hateful man down. It was only Harry's words that maybe Hogwarts would start producing potion masters again which lead to him revealing that his research showed that ever since Severus began teaching, the number of students who continued potions was a mere ten percent of what it once was. He also told them that the Aurors and St. Mungos should be happy that they don't have to take time out of normal training to teach potions any longer. If that wasn't enough, then the students should be much happier without the greasy bat around.

Once the conversation died down, Moody and Minerva went off to 'discuss' something which left Harry with Poppy. He turned to her. "I have some questions I need answers to. I...I can't really talk to Pops about it or Nana for that matter. But I'm kinda confused and don't know what to do?"

"You can ask me anything Harry. I'm always here for you."

"Well...that whole bond thing with Hermione. Well...I didn't tell you guys everything. You see, when I took the pain of the bond...well...it kinda stayed with me this whole time. I've read about bonds and from what I've seen, the person who breaks it is the one to suffer...but I took it all because I wanted her to be happy."

"Why didn't you tell us this?"

"Didn't want you guys worrying about that on top of everything else. And it wasn't like I couldn't handle it."

"Oh Harry. That's horrible. Are you...capable of love? I know that can be a side effect sometimes."

"I think so. You see...Susan Bones and I have been talking and going out some. She's kissed me and I really liked it but...is it too soon after the bond thing? I mean...to me...that bond thing was still as fresh as the day it happened."

"Was? Has it changed?"

"Well yeah...the pain seems to be getting less. I'm thinking more often about Susie and she's in my dreams now where it used to be Hermione."

Poppy smiled. "I'm not trying to embarrass you but are they romantic or sexual dreams?"

Harry blushed. "I...I think more romantic. I mean we've kissed and I dream of doing more of that but...not much else."

Poppy shook her head. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Susan allowed you to see there is a possibility of falling in love again. Even if you are 'just talking' right now, I would encourage you to continue seeing her as I think it's helping you heal your broken heart. Susan's a sweet girl and you couldn't do much better."

Harry nodded. "I do like her and enjoy the time we spend together and the letters we share but...should I limit my choices? I mean...Susan's the first girl I've been interested in since Granger and I mean...should I look around more and not jump at the first pretty girl who shows me interest?"

She leaned back in her chair and looked closely at him. "Well...you could do that but it would depend on what you feel for Susan."

"I like her...a lot. But...she sometimes talks as if this is already a long term relationship. I'm only sixteen now so should I even be thinking about that?"

"I'm sorry _but_ you did with Hermione."

Harry sighed. "I know...maybe that's the problem. I'm scared of getting close again and this is the first girl I've liked since Hermione. I don't want Susan to be a rebound cause I really like her but the whole thing is just so confusing. Then there's the whole Voldemort problem that has to be resolved before I can really have a life. Of course then I'll have to deal the Dumbass and I really don't want to have to take him down too so that I can have a bit of peace. "

Poppy chuckled. "Okay...first off, you've spent some of your very important teen years only in the company of adults and training to fight a war. Your social and emotional health may be a little off because of that. You are a lot more mature than most of your peers. Especially the boys. The girls will like it since they mature faster than boys. As far as Susan, all I can tell you is to follow your heart. If you enjoy time with her, then continue to do so. If it's wrong for you to be together, then you'll both know it. There's no rule saying you have to date a whole bunch of girls to find the one. Your godfather dated half the school while your father always had his eyes on Lily and never dated anyone else until they got together. Your parents were very happy together and had a good life in the time they had together. Your godfather was still single when everything happened."

"So..."

She smiled. "So you do what feels right for Harry Potter. If that's trying to build a committed relationship with Susan then that is what you should do. If it's not then your heart will lead you where it needs to be."

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment. "You now what I wish for more than anything?"

"No what?"

"Being able to go to Hogwarts for my seventh year and having the Tom problem behind me."

She hugged him. "We'd love to have you back. Your grandfather has hogged you these last two years and we want equal time. So...all you have to do is figure out a way to deal with Tom. You've done harder things. Figure it out."

"I will. I've got some ideas and are working through them now."

**ALM**

During the first few weeks following the attack on Amelia's house. Harry and Susan wrote letters every day as they tried to get to know one another. It made Hedwig happy to be able to go out once again since no one could use her to send post while they maintained that Harry was dead. By the first of August, these letters turned into notes as they made plans for what to do the next day. They had to compromise as Harry still needed to train but they began doing things every other day. Moody grumbled that it was interrupting their training but Poppy put her foot down and dragged him off to his study. Once behind the silencing charms, she gave him both barrels and reminded Alastor of Harry's age and how much he missed being locked away from the world these last two years.

After Poppy's little talk, Harry spent almost every day with Susan in one way or another. They spent many days just walking and talking in the gardens at Bones Manor between training session or studies. Some days, they'd do something in the muggle world like a movie, trips to the mall, or taking some of the bus tours in downtown London. It went a long way to easing the emotional pain Harry was carrying these last few years. Poppy and eventually Minerva helped him understand that spending time with a pretty girl was not fully committing to a relationship with her. It was the more normal act of dating without outside pressures forcing your decision that most teens experienced and both Harry and Susan completely enjoyed their time together. They weren't heirs and heiresses, or the niece of the most powerful woman at the Ministry, or the hero of the wizarding world. They were Harry and Susan, a couple of teens enjoying dating and snogging when they could get away with it.

They talked often about going to visit the Potter Manor and estate but as Harry was still not of age, he was denied access. So they continued to do as they had the previous weeks and find ways to see each other away from the world of magic. It did cause problems at times when she'd be invited out by her friends and he would have to refuse. He knew she just wanted everyone to see why she was so busy and happy these days but doing that would not only put a bigger target on her family but draw attention to him as well. Luckily, those moments were fleeting as her easy going nature and happiness at just being able to spend time together made things much easier and allowed them to continue to grow closer even if it was in secret.

The sad part about August was that it seemed to speed by and September 1st was looming larger on the horizon everyday. They did their best to make use of the time they had remaining but it was always in the back if their minds.

**ALM**

On September first, Harry appeared at Bones Manor for breakfast and to wish Susan a good year at Hogwarts. Hiram, Janice, and even Amelia left the teens alone in the entrance hall for several minutes to allow them to say goodbye. By the time Harry left, Susan had puffy and bruised lips from the intense snogging they were engaged in along with tear tracks down her face. Janice took her daughter into her arms and led her back to the master bath to help Susan clean up since all of Susan's toiletries and such were already packed. As she was doing this, Janice was whispering to Susan that it was only temporary and she would see Harry again soon.

Harry left Bones Manor quite shaken up by Susan's tears and apparated to the cave where Sirius once hid. It was a place he used to go and think and where he could be on his own. Being with Moody was great and had removed him from his former life but there were times when Moody acted on both ends of the spectrum. At some times, Moody was quite distant and would disappear leaving Harry on his own. The other times Moody was hovering over him and either trying to push even more information into his brain or questioning him relentlessly about what their next moves would be. As an act of thanks, Amelia secretly had Harry tested and licensed for apparation and it was that which Harry used to move around most of the time now.

He appeared in the makeshift camp and sat on the log he knew Sirius used while in hiding here. It could have the effect of bringing up the bad memories of once again losing a parental figure in Sirius but that faded quickly since they hardly knew each other. Truthfully, he didn't know any of his parental figures, but he felt they could now rest a little easier knowing Snape had paid for his crimes against their family. It was yet another thing he held against Dumbledore as he was almost positive that Albus was responsible for Sirius' time in Azkaban and had to be somehow behind the events that led to Sirius' death.

He sat and looked out over Hogsmeade as his mind swirled with all these thoughts. The memories of Sirius finally faded as the reason he was here came back to the forefront of his thoughts. He was never good with emotional stuff anyway but it was her reaction that helped him understand that what they meant to each other was way more than dating. The pain he'd felt for years due to Hermione was now replaced by the pain of knowing he and Susan would be separated for several months and would only have letters to hold them over until they could see each other again.

His anger at the situation of his life flared up inside him with nothing to vent on. A wand dropped into his right hand and a bolt of light shot out and connected with one of the rocks lying on the ground. The rock blew into dust as Harry released some of his frustration. Feeling slightly better and maybe a little angry at himself for losing some of his control. He plopped back down on the log and began thinking once again.

Things had been very quiet for the last month and neither Tom or his minions made any incursions into the world at large to create havoc and sow chaos. The Greengrass family was still safe and even the probing of their wards stopped altogether. Harry figured out it was because of the wards and Tom didn't have the manpower to spare to assault an ancient house under war wards.

He knew that was part of it but there had to be more. It all came back to what he thought before. Tom was scared. The Horcruxes that he could access were checked for their safety. Harry knew this for a fact since he and Moody went to a couple of the sites and saw the devastation after Tom threw a temper. Tom wouldn't know the fate of the ones out of his reach but had to assume they were gone too.

Tom may have been a brilliant and ruthless wizard once upon a time but now he was just twisted and evil. Harry studied soul magic intensively after Lefty gave him some books on the subject. Fortunately they came from overseas as anything that could be found in England were prejudiced and downright wrong. These books were written by Native Americans and a Voo Doo priestess that came from cultures that practiced soul magic and understood the intricacies of it. One thing he did learn was that tampering with the soul did irreparable harm to oneself. It reduced ones intelligence, sanity, humanity, and emotional health creating more of a monster than anything else. In other words, the perfect definition of Tom.

He never could make a clear decision about whether or not magical power was reduced so Harry could only assume that he had to face an incredibly powered insane Dark Turd with aspirations to take over the world. At least he knew that Tom no longer commanded the manpower to accomplish his goals and according to Amelia, he no longer had the support of many of the dark creatures or dark wizards for that matter. His defeats caused a complete downturn in recruitment as many family elders now refused their heirs to join since they had to carry on the family name. News of Draco and his cronies spread far and fast among the dark families and they could see Moody and partner were intent on wiping them out by any means possible.

Another positive result of the attack on Amelia's house was that Fenrir Greyback was no more. It seems that being transfigured into an ice statue and then shattered was a new way to take a werewolf down. Greyback had his fiercest fighters with him and that one curse effectively took out the werewolf leadership in England. The lower level werewolves were only there because Fenrir and his enforcers forced them to be. As soon as word came back about their deaths, the remaining weres left England in order to decide on a new leader of the pack. It was easily accomplished since they were camped away from Tom' headquarters as only Greyback spent any time around the dark lord. It was well known the alpha male was decided by combat and Harry hoped the strongest would kill each other and they would be done with Tom by the time it was settled. Little did he know that the remains of the pack were much like Remus and only wanted to live out their lives in peace.

All in all, Tom's forces were not the threat they were a few months ago. He probably had at most one hundred followers, a couple of giants, maybe a half dozen trolls that Gringotts were working on poaching and being put to work for them, and the dementors. In all, Harry thought the dementors were the biggest threat and they needed to find a way to destroy them or get them back under control. Neither task would be an easy one.

**ALM**

It was getting close to dinner time and Moody was beginning to get a little concerned. He knew Harry could take care of himself and even expected him to go sulk for a while due to his girlfriend returning to school. He hated that Harry was isolated with him and couldn't live a normal teen aged life but those were the breaks and England needed Harry fighting the dark and not hiding in the Hogwarts broom closets with Susan. He hoped they could wrap this up and allow Harry to return for his seventh year but with the way Tom was hiding, it was looking doubtful at the moment.

He knew if Tom was holding his forces back then something would have to happen for him to commit his forces. He would have to be building up for a major battle or he would have to eventually relent and let his forces out to play again. Moody hoped for the second so that the first wouldn't be so major.

He finally sighed and produced a message patronus and sent it to Harry.

It arrived minutes later as Harry was noticing that the sun was beginning to go down. The doberman appeared and looked up at Harry. In Moody's voice it asked. "You okay?"

Harry chuckled as the patronus faded after doing its job. He conjured his own patronus and sent a reply back. He didn't fear doing magic and being tracked as Ralph's wands were untraceable and since he hadn't stepped back into Hogwarts, the trackers were not reapplied by the castle magic. He stood and watched as he saw the train approach in the distance. He snorted to himself fortunately sitting here all day thinking, feeling sorry for himself, and what else could be said.

A stag appeared in front of Moody. In Harry's voice it said. "Fine, Just been thinking and trying to plan. Thank Merlin I wasn't lying in a ditch somewhere and you just now thought to check on me. What would Nana and Poppy say? Anyway, I'll be home soon. I wanna see something."

Moody chuckled at the response. In truth, Moody knew where he was the whole day as he had his own trackers on the lad. He was pretty sure Harry knew but they never spoke about it as Harry would know it was not a way to control him but to keep track of him if they were ever separated. Unknown to him, Harry had his own attached to Moody. Anyway, Moody knew from where Harry was that he was watching the Hogwarts Express pull into the station.

**ALM**

Susan's day started out brilliantly as Harry came to see her off. Then the actual reality set in and she knew she would only have his letters from this point for a while. The heartache she felt over this lasted pretty much the whole day. Her family managed to get her to Kings Cross and into a compartment on the train. Janice never left her until Hannah came along tugging Neville with her. Seeing her friend so upset had Hannah at her side instantly and after a kiss to the forehead, Janice left her daughter in good hands.

The day was spent in quiet conversation. Hannah knew Susan had a boyfriend and knew she was deliriously happy this past month but still didn't know who he was. All she could really get from Susan was that they said goodbye this morning and it was breaking her heart. Hannah asked if they broke up and got a 'no' but couldn't get much more out of her. It was almost as if Susan thought she'd never see her boyfriend again and in that case, she was right. Susan did her best to hide it but she was scared that Harry would be killed while continuing the fight against the dark turd as he called him and now once she was away from him for at least four months, her fears came out. It was so much easier to be confident in him when he was right beside her larger than life.

The compartment remained depressingly gloomy for most of the trip. Several other girls from Hufflepuff came in to try and console the distraught witch but were unsuccessful. It was only as she passed the compartment and felt Susan's pain that Luna Lovegood opened the door and stepped in. She walked right in front of Susan and knelt on the floor as took Susan's hands. She leaned forward and whispered in Susan's ear.

"You will see him again so be strong. You are the bright spot in his life and he hurts just as much as you right now but it will all be better soon. You will soon feel his love watching over you so take comfort in that."

Luna leaned back a little and then kissed Susan's forehead before she rose and started for the door. Susan watched for a second as the girl began to leave. "Luna...thank you. You are welcome to stay with us for the rest of the journey."

Luna gave Susan a sweet and loving smile. "I know and I thank you for it but...I'm needed elsewhere."

Once Luna left, Megan Jones decided to comment. "Loony is so weird"

Susan bristled. "Don't call her that. If any of you would take the time to get to know her, you'd know she's one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. She is my friend and will always be welcome where ever I am."

Neville nodded along with Susan's admonishment. Once she was done, he said "She's also more brilliant that we thought Granger was. I won't hear anything bad about her either. She was one of the brains behind our study group once we left the DA."

"Sorry, we didn't know."

There was a beaming smile on Luna's face as she walked down the main aisle of the train. Her visions showed a brighter future now than in the past four years and all because Susan Bones reached out and began healing the broken heart of Harry Potter. Until that happened, the future of the wizarding world was still in peril. She saw Harry destroying Tom Riddle as that outcome was assured. What would have happened after was clouded in mystery and seemed rather murky. She could see a reckoning coming to the magical world with Harry right in the middle of it. No longer would the light and dark families lead the world as the more moderate families took the lead and it was all because Harry Potter was allowing his heart to heal.

Her thoughts then turned to her neighbors the Weasleys. The things they did were as dark as Voldemort yet they still spouted off about how light they were. Yes, there was a reckoning coming. Snape had already paid for his treachery but Dumbledore and some of the Weasleys were ignorant about what was ahead of them. Luna figured there were several at the Ministry who would fall about the same time. Her thoughts then turned the to other victim in all this. Hermione Granger needed to be saved but the options to do this were very limited. As she walked down the center aisle of the train, she knew she had time to research how to bring about Hermione's redemption but also knew it needed to be ready in the not to distant future.

**ALM**

When Susan stepped off the train and moved towards the carriages, she stopped cold as she felt eyes upon her. She began turning and looking around, much to the confusion of her friends, but then a feeling of warmth and love wrapped around her and the first smile since she parted from Harry formed on her lips. She wrapped her arms around her torso to try and trap the warmth inside her. It felt just like when Harry held her and she knew in that moment that he was there and watching her. She sent her own feelings of love out and hoped they connected to him as his had to her. All of a sudden, the feeling was gone and she knew he was watching to make sure she was safe and when he was assured of that, he went back home.

As they were riding to the castle, she hoped the opening feast wouldn't take too long as she had a letter that had to go out tonight.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Thanks for reading. For those who haven't figured it out, it wasn't pain from the bond that was still hurting Harry. It was the loneliness and lack of romantic love that was still lingering with him.

Chapter 8

By the time Susan finished her letter to Harry, it was past curfew and too late to make a trip to the owlery. She really wanted Harry to have this letter in the morning so took a chance. Softly, she called "Dobby".

A few minutes later, he appeared with a soft 'pop'. "Missy Susan called Dobby?"

"Oh...I'm so happy to see you Dobby. I didn't know if you'd come if I called."

"Dobby always come if Missy Susan calls. Dobby knows Missy Susan is very important to Master and Dobby wants Master to be happy again like Master has been since Missy Susan sucked Master's face."

Susan blushed but was happy to know that Dobby thought she was that important to Harry. "Dobby, was he in Hogsmeade today?"

"No Missy Susan. Master wasn't in Hoggytown but was very nearby. Master could see Hoggytown from where Master was hiding."

"Why was he hiding?"

Dobby looked down for a minute as if deciding he should say anything else. He thought about it and decided that since it was part of Dobby's job to make Harry happy, and Missy made Master happy, then Dobby would make sure Master and Missy wouldn't have problems because Missy was now at Hoggywartys.

Dobby finally said, "Master was upset and sad. Master was unhappy because his life was so messed up. Master was sad because Missy Susan was gone."

Susan had happy tears in her eyes cause she was now sure it was Harry watching her. It also helped to know that he was just as affected by her as much as he affected her. "Thank you Dobby. I promise to try and make him happy."

"Dobby knows Missy. Dobby cans see the love Missy has for Master. Dobby asked Missy to not give up on Master as sometimes Master doesn't know what he feels. Dobby also asks Missy to have faith. Master will come through troubles. Dobby will makes sure of it."

Susan got down and hugged Dobby tightly. "Harry is so lucky to have you Dobby. You're one in a million."

Dobby shook his head. "Dobby just a house elf who Master calls friend. Dobby is the lucky one."

She smiled. "Well I think you're both very special. Now will you take this letter to Harry? I wanted him to have it in the morning and it was too late for me to get to an owl."

"Dobby be proud to. And Dobby asks Missy to call Dobby whenever Missy needs anything. Master don't give Dobby enough work and Dobby be proud to serve Mist...Missy too."

"Thank you Dobby and I will."

**ALM**

The next morning, Harry found a letter from Susan lying on his nightstand. It made him smile as his dreams were just filled with Susan and just being with her. Oh sure he had some of _those_ kind of dreams too but he didn't want to get distracted by that right now. He grabbed the envelope and ripped it open.

 _My Dearest Harry,_

 _I'm going to apologize in advance for this letter as I don't know where it will go as my emotions are all over the place. Most of all I am so very happy that you are my boyfriend and I am your girlfriend. Please don't doubt that. Ever. My mother keeps teasing me about the ring you gave me and saying we are engaged. If only that were so._

 _I know we've only been together for a short time but I think I can honestly say I love and and am 'in' love with you. I hope you know the difference because there is one. I know, since you've told me, that emotions are not something you are comfortable with so I guess I'll have to be emotional enough for the both of us. I'm actually giggling about that because at the moment I probably am. And yes I know I am pathetic. Sue me!_

 _Yesterday started out so wonderfully. You came to wish me a good year and the snogging was the best ever but then reality set in. I was going to Hogwarts and for another year, you wouldn't be there. I think under normal circumstances, I could handle the separation. Maybe I'm like one of those little dogs we saw while we were out where those stuck-up ladies kept going on about how they couldn't leave sweet little Foo Foo at home alone because she suffered from separation anxiety and would pee all over everything._

 _Eww...bad image. I am housebroken you know. Anyway, the separation would be easier to handle if I knew I would get to see you soon and I didn't know what you were out there doing. I have complete faith in you and know you will succeed in your task. I guess I'm just being a silly little girl about it because I'm so scared I may never see you again._

 _Okay, I'm sorry I had to unload that but its been a horrible day and I don't think I've cried so much in my life. I miss you already and felt like it will be days or weeks before I am myself again. I was resigned to being alone as I played the good little girlfriend and waited for you to come home from the wars. I got off the train and saw the castle in the distance and thought that every step I took towards that place was taking me further away from you. I was so dreading it and then I felt something. I felt eyes on me. It made me nervous at first until I felt love and warmth surrounding me. It felt just like your arms around me and I hope I'm right in thinking it was you, I sent back my own feelings of love. I hope you felt them too._

 _Please forgive me this letter as today was very hard on me. And if you read it all the way through, thank you for understanding and allowing me to say things that I couldn't say to your face before now. I don't know if this will scare you away or not but please at least respond. I need to know you're there and still safe._

 _Yours,_

 _Susan_

Harry had tears leaking from his eyes and his emotions were in a turmoil. He wasn't upset at Susan, not at all, he was upset with his lot in life and how now Susan was being dragged through the crap that was always present in his life. He wanted to break things off with her so she could have a normal life where her emotions and life weren't always in a turmoil but he couldn't. It was too late for that as she was as she had become a very important part of his life. He was trying to take this relationship with Susan as slowly as he could because he didn't want her to be a rebound for him but she was making it incredibly difficult. She was just such a good and sweet person that he found he was craving her companionship.

He laid there for a few minutes. He couldn't write her back right now. Not with the way he was feeling as he wouldn't have been able to write something coherent. Instead, he brought his occlumency shields up to try and calm his emotions. Once in place,he began to calm but his thoughts turned to determination. He wanted this over and done with. He wanted to be able to be 'alive' again so he could just spend time with Susan as any other teen aged boy did with his girlfriend. He wanted to go on dates, stroll around the Black Lake, curl up on a couch in either common room and just be together, and risk getting caught in a broom closet with her. He would proudly serve a detention for such right now.

He threw the covers off him and went to his bathroom. After a shower, he picked up the clothes Dobby laid out for him. He chuckled at the fact that Dobby knew him so well as the ever efficient elf laid out 'business' clothes.

In the kitchen, Moody was eating breakfast while Dobby started fixing another breakfast. "How's junior this morning?"

"Master is much more determined than when he went to bed. Dobby thinks Master be making plans today."

Moody grunted. "Well, that's better than sulking or moping. Any idea what he's so determined about?"

"Master has decided he wants his life back. Master also is determined to be with his mate again."

Moody grunted again and then snorted. "Whatever motivates him works for me. It's his show after all."

It wasn't long before Harry was down eating his breakfast. Moody was just sitting there waiting to see if Harry wanted to talk about anything while sipping tea. "Yesterday?"

Harry sighed. "Had to get some things straight."

"Did you?"

"Not really...at least not last night. Susan sent me a letter. Thanks for bringing it Dobby. I...I want my life back Pops. I appreciate everything you've done for me and am so grateful for you getting me out of that situation...but...I want my life back now. I'm tired of hiding. I'm tired of Tom hiding. I want to be with Susan and the only way I can really do that is to finally get rid of that bastard and come back out into the open."

"What about Dumbledore?"

"What about him? If he tries anything with me, he'll be the next dark lord I take down."

Moody nodded. "Good. I was hoping the lass would light a fire under your ass. What do you need me to do?"

"Give me until lunch. I'm going to Gringotts to arrange a couple of things. Then I need to go check something and see if my rough plan may even be possible. I mean, all we really have to do is kill the bastard now since his protection is gone. Hell, even with those rituals he used to enhance his body, I don't think armor piercing rounds would have much trouble tearing him apart. I just want this done!"

Moody chuckled. "Alright. Go do what you need to do. "I'll be waiting here for you at noon."

Harry finished his breakfast and then left the house apparating to the steps of Gringotts and hurrying inside with his hood up. He stepped to a free teller and slid his key across the desk. "I'd like to see my account manager please."

The teller looked at the key and up to the wizard standing in front of him. "I'll see if he is available."

Taking his key back. Harry replied "Thank you" and went and stood to the side.

A few minutes later, another Goblin came over. "If you'll follow me, Bearclaw will see you now."

Harry nodded and fell into step behind the Goblin. After a good five minute walk, the Goblin knocked once on the door and ushered Harry in. As Harry stepped into the office, the escort closed the door behind them. Harry could see the blue flash and hear the squelching noise of a privacy field going up. Harry just turned to the desk with one eyebrow raised. Bearclaw looked back and chuckled. "Extra security for my favorite client. I know you require your anonymity right now. So Mr. Potter, what can this old goblin do for you today?" He gestured to a seat for Harry to take.

Once Harry was seated he thought over his words for a second. "Manager Bearclaw..."

He was cut off. "It is just Bearclaw you know."

Harry gave him a nod. "And it is just Harry. I thought we were past this the last time we met and yet you start out by calling me Mr. Potter."

Bearclaw chuckled. "That we did. Now...what can I do for you?"

"I have questions about my inheritance. I know I'm not allowed access to my ancestral home until I turn seventeen and can claim full headship of the family and gain access to the manor."

Bearclaw nodded. "That is correct."

Harry nodded. "Do I have access to any of the other properties?"

Bearclaw frowned. He knew the complete story of Harry's life up to this point and was concerned. "Is there a problem where you are currently living?"

Harry immediately understood what he meant. "No...Pops is great and all but...well...I remember there being a house in Hogsmeade that was usually rented out and was wondering if that was available to me?"

Bearclaw picked up a folder and looked through it. "I believe it is currently occupied and will be for three more years when the lease expires."

Harry frowned. "Okay...I was just hoping I could use it."

"I'm not trying to pry but what would you need it for?"

Harry blushed. "Well..you see...there's this girl and she goes to Hogwarts."

Bearclaw chuckled. "Yes...a Miss Susan Bones. We are well aware of your relationship with her."

"What? How? I thought we were being discrete. Do you think Tom knows?"

Bearclaw chuckled again. "No...nothing like that. You are a very important client Harry. We just like to keep abreast of things and the confidentiality oaths insure it won't leave this office."

"Oh"

Bearclaw looked at him for a minute. "Harry...just tell me what's on your mind."

Harry sighed. "My life can't be anything close to normal right now. Susan and I...well we really like each other and I'm just trying to figure out a way so that I can see her on Hogsmeade weekends until I'm able to go back to school. We can't date in the magical world like any other kids right now and...I don't want her to regret being with me and..."

Bearclaw held up a hand. "Harry...just relax and we'll see what we can do." He pulled out another folder and started flipping through it until he came to a page he thought looked interesting. He pulled out the piece of parchment and laid it on his desk and tapped it several times with his finger as he was thinking.

He looked at Harry. "As you know, there are loopholes around most situations. Unfortunately for you, the Potter Estate issue isn't one of them not that that would help you in this case since the manor house is located in Wales. Now, as your account manager as I was your father's and grandfather's, there are certain liberties we are allowed to take when investing Potter funds. I know we talked before about how your family was not really extremely wealthy...just comfortably well off. I also know you've given me permission to invest heavily to try and bring those numbers up."

Harry nodded.

"As you don't suffer most of the prejudices held by the old families, I was able to invest more funds in the muggle stock market and have had some excellent returns these last few years. I estimate that we can nearly double your money over the next five to ten years."

"Thank you...that's better than I expected."

"You're welcome. Now, you've said you are unhappy in your current life. The way I see it, you have one maybe two obstacles in your path that are preventing you from living the life you want and I'm not speaking in terms of gold."

Harry looked back at him. "Your thinking matches mine in that."

Bearclaw smiled. "Then what do you plan to do about it?"

Harry took a deep breath. "I plan to start actively working to remove the immediate threat from my life. For the second obstacle, I may take a wait and see approach to see if he interferes anymore and if he does, I plan on removing him as an obstacle in whatever way I can be it political or other means."

Bearclaw sat back and steepled his fingers in thought. " _When_ you eliminate the primary threat, I think the Ministry would have no choice but to recognize and reward you for that action. An Order of Merlin First Class comes with a substantial monetary award which will go a long way to achieving some of the results we are after if that money is placed in the Potter accounts."

Harry snorted. "It's not like I bank anywhere else Account Manager."

Bearclaw grinned. Thankfully Harry recognized it for what it was. "As your account manager, I can invest your funds in many different ways. There is a house in Hogsmeade that has recently come available. We were asked to broker the sale as the house is part of an estate sale and has fallen into disrepair. If said house was restored over the next year or so, it could be flipped, as the muggles say, and resold for a higher price than it would be bought for, or it could be turned into another rental property in the Potter portfolio."

"I'm listening."

"We could shift some funds to cover the costs of the purchase and the repairs that I don't think will affect our plans long term especially if you eliminate your primary obstacle and are rewarded for it."

Harry smiled. "And those repair costs could conceivably come down if I knew of an elf that could do the work since said elf has been complaining that I don't give him enough to do and has taken to playing cupid as a way to pass the time."

Bearclaw grinned. "Exactly!"

"Do you think it's a good investment?"

Bearclaw sat and thought for a second. "Yes it is either way you decide to go. The only reason it hasn't sold already is because it needs a lot of work. As a rental property...well...there is never a shortage of people wanting to rent a house there. If the Ministry hadn't blocked Gringotts, we would have built several houses there for just that purpose."

"Do it then and I'll have Dobby go take a look."

'POP' "Master has work for poor underworked Dobby?"

Harry laughed. "Yeah buddy. Bearclaw is going to tell you about a house he's buying for me. You will be doing the work since you don't have enough to do but...you cannot use bright colors. It has to be done in neutrals and once I bring Susan there, she can tell you what she wants. In fact, just start cleaning and repairing and we'll let Susan tell us how to decorate."

Dobby jumped to Harry and hugged his leg hard. "Master is the bestest Master in the world."

Dobby turned his bright eyes around to Bearclaw with a pleading look in them. Dobby disappeared once he was told the address.

After a minute of silence, Bearclaw asked. "Anything else?"

"Not that I know of unless you have something."

"No, not at this time. Well, if that's all I'll return to my work now that we have your love shack situation all worked out."

Harry blushed as Bearclaw laughed at him. "Take care Harry and let me know if there's anyway I can help."

"Will do and thanks."

"It's what I'm here for. Now go before you drag me into something else."

Harry walked out the door and was immediately escorted down the hall and out another exit. Once outside, the goblin pointed to a doorbell. "Mr. Potter, this is our entrance and exit for those who do not wish to be recognized. Manager Bearclaw instructed me to show it to you so you won't have to enter through the lobby anymore. The bell will alert us to your presence."

"Thank you, that will make it much easier to visit from now on."

"You're welcome Mr. Potter."

The door was then closed and Harry checked his watch. He still had a couple of hours before lunch so he apparated to his next destination. He arrived at the cave once again and hoped his plan would work. He took a deep breath and called "Fawkes". He waited a few minutes and then a ball of flame appeared in front of him. Fawkes was trilling happily to see someone he'd missed these last few years. He took a perch within Harry's reach and Harry reached out and stroked the fiery bird.

"Hey my friend. I've missed you too."

"I need to ask you some things. First, you won't get in trouble with your bonded by talking to me will you?"

Fawkes shook his head and rubbed it against Harry hand once again. "We've kinda got a history don't we? I mean the first time I ever saw you, I was scared because you looked so sick and then you burst into flames. Scared the life out of me. I thought I was gonna have to run from that office cause I was sure I'd be blamed for it. Then you stuck your head out of the pile of ash and chirped at me. You looked so cute and I couldn't help myself but I picked you up and put you back on your perch. I felt a connection then but Dumbledore came in and although he hid it, I could tell he wasn't too happy I'd done that. I mean...was what I did wrong? I just wanted to help you and he acted like I did something?"

"Is that why I feel so connected to you? I mean ever since then I'd always thought of you as a friend."

Fawkes responded by climbing in Harry's lap and then rubbing his beak on Harry's cheek.

"Then the chamber happened. I owe you for that since you saved me several times that day. I know I told you then but thank you for that. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."

Fawkes chirped happily.

"Third year happened. I lost Sirius at the end of it. I thought maybe I could have had a life at that point but Snape and I think Albus made sure he would never be able to take me away from everything. I'm not trying to bad talk Albus but...well...he's just not good for me. He's let too many things go wrong with me for me to be able to trust him again. I hope that won't hurt our friendship."

Fawkes looked sad but then continued to show Harry affection.

"And then there was my fourth year. Albus made me compete in that tournament. Everyone was against me and I was all alone except for Dobby. Hermione left me...broke our bond...broke my heart. I'm glad she waited until after the third task or I would have probably let Tom kill me. I mean I've just recently stopped hurting from the broken bond."

Fawkes trilled softly.

"It's okay buddy, I've got Susan now. Things are going good but she's scared for me. I've still got to get rid of Tom...so I can live again. But I wish I'd known you'd come to me. Maybe you could have gotten me out of that graveyard faster. But anyway, I'm sure you know where I've been. Moody has been great. I've learned a lot and can hold my own now. So...next question, will Albus know we've talked?"

Fawkes shook his head. "Thanks Buddy."

Harry looked Fawkes right in the eyes. "Worst question. If I were to call you, could you or would you take me straight to where Tom is hiding? I've got to end this before it's too late and more people die."

Fawkes tapped his scar with his beak.

"It's gone. All of them are. Moody's got some good friends and with their help, we've found and got them all. We even got the snake at Amelia Bones' house so he's as mortal as me."

"I know I'm asking a lot. And going there to kill him may not be very 'light' but he can't be redeemed. I know what creating those Horcruxes did to him and he can't come back from that. I mean, he's not really human anymore...he's more like a demon."

Fawkes trilled sadly and shook his head. "It's okay buddy. I just thought I'd ask. I'll find another way."

Fawkes rubbed his head against Harry's cheek again. "I know and I hope I'll see you again too. Well, I guess you'd better get back to your human and I'll go continue to makes plans. Take care of yourself Fawkes."

The firebird trilled softly and then disappeared in a burst of flames. Harry knew not to wait around just in case Fawkes told Dumbledore and apparated back home.

When he got there, Moody was waiting and had Lefty with him as well.

Moody asked "Did you get everything worked out?"

Harry frowned. "Only about half. I bought a house in Hogsmeade to turn into a rental house or sale after Dobby fixes it up. Thought it'd be a good place to meet Susan on the student weekends. I don't want to wait until Christmas to actually see her again."

"Anything else?"

"It was a bust. I should have known better but you don't know until you ask."

"What was that plan?"

"Well the rough idea was to acquire another scorpion, load it with armor piercing and explosive ammo, and then have Fawkes flame me into Tom's throne room. I figured at least he could find him and I could take out that bastard once and for all."

Moody snorted. "It might have worked too but you would have been torn up in the process."

Harry nodded. "Probably. I'm just tired of waiting and I don't think he's going to come out on his own. I asked Fawkes cause I knew he could take me to him since we don't even know where they are hiding."

Lefty chuckled. "I wouldn't say that. Me and the boys have been snooping around. It seems you've got that wanker so scared that he's holed up behind the best wards he could find among his DE's. Not only that, there's a presence of dementors, several trolls, and a couple of giants along with his remaining troops."

"The only estate big enough for all that is Malfoy Manor."

"Right you are junior."

"Then I take it you two have come up with a plan?"

Lefty snorted. "An idea really."

Harry laughed. "Well you heard my stupid idea...let's hear yours."

Lefty nodded. "Well your old grandpa here told me what you did with those balls. Now this is theoretical right now but...it might work. Do you know how wards work?"

"Basically"

"Well you know I was a curse breaker for many years. To do that, you have to be a master of warding because much of what we do involves taking down wards before we can even get to the good stuff. Well, there are some requirements in all warding schemes. The first is you have to have a main ward control stone to, as it's called, control and power the wards. The problem with control stones is they are usually at the center most point of the wards which make it difficult to get to because in these old manors, that usually means under the house. With me?"

Harry nodded.

"The second requirement is that there have to be ward anchors buried around the property. These basically regulate how far the wards extend. The little known fact about the anchors is they also provide power to the wards and in fact are the part that mainly powers the protections because that's where the ward actually is."

Harry nodded. "So instead of what everyone thinks which is the main wards stone powers the whole thing by shooting energy up into the wards and forming kind of an umbrella, it only connects with the wards to control them. But I thought when wards were taken down, it was usually the control stone that failed."

Lefty smiled. "It is. The way to take down a ward is to overload it, If enough energy is forced into the ward, that power must be controlled therefore it is forced into the main control stone and damages or destroys it."

"Okay...so...what are you saying we could do?"

"We create our own anchors for the wards and use switching spells to swap them out."

Harry was confused. "I thought the wards were supposed to keep magic from going in."

"They are but the anchors are under the ground at the edge of the wards. A switching spell pointed under the wards should work... Theoretically."

"And what would we do to the wards?"

"There are endless possibilities. I mentioned the balls earlier because we could use your ice scheme to freeze everything inside. Another option would be to reverse the war wards, because that's what they have up, and have it kill everyone and everything inside the wards. We would also trap everyone inside by only allowing apparation into the wards and not out. Same with portkeys and the runic sequence that allows floo travel into the house."

"What about compatibility with the wards. Wouldn't the control stone have to be able to work with them?"

"It would. If we could get our hands on one or see how the runes are set up, we could use the same system but reverse some of the effects."

"How would we find them and how many would there be?"

"We would find them by analyzing the wards and locating where the power flows out because the energy would be stronger at that point. As far as how many. I really don't know but we'd know once we did the analysis."

Harry nodded again. "Sounds to me like the most dangerous part is doing the analysis and getting a picture of the anchor stones. If our alert wards are any indication, they would know as soon as you started."

Lefty nodded. "And that's where the problems begin...not to mention the creatures and people he has guarding the manor."

Harry sighed. "Then it seems we can't use that idea either. They'll know we're coming before we can do anything against them. The idea is good but...I don't think it'll work in the current situation."

Moody sat back in thought as did Lefty. Harry had his head in his hands as he was thinking. He then asked "How long would it take to take the wards down?"

Lefty looked at Moody for a minute. "It depends. There are ways to quickly destroy wards by overloading the control stone but...the ward stone has to be replaced afterwards. In most situations, you want the wards down but you also want to be able to bring them back up quickly if you need to."

Harry huffed. "I don't really care if the stone is destroyed or not. I'm looking for a time window."

Lefty shook his head. "Even overloading takes time. Maybe as much as a day and they'll know we are coming."

There a a pause of silence as all three sat there thinking. Finally it was broken by Harry,

"What were those sapper things they used at Amelia's?"

Lefty looked down. "Very rare and very expensive. How he found one is beyond me but I can tell you there aren't any to be found now. Mad-Eye destroying that one caused even hints of them to stop."

Harry sighed. "Can wards be laid over top of existing wards quickly?"

Moody nodded. "They can but they're not very powerful and are usually only temporary."

Harry closed his eyes and leaned his head back. There was another break of silence. Harry finally agreed. "You mean like the DE's use but those are mainly charms aren't they?"

"Yeah junior."

"Okay...what if we used our own ward anchors and put up a stronger ward over top of theirs? We could do something like that to keep them in and let Tom call more followers to him when he thinks he's threatened therefore trapping them inside too."

Lefty nodded. "It could work but we'd have to worry if he's called them directly to him or to outside the wards."

"I think the mark usually summons them directly to him so we allow incoming portkeys and apparation and block outgoing. Then we find a way to incapacitate those inside the ward."

Lefty shook his head. "It wouldn't work cause magic won't pass through the existing wards."

Harry nodded. "Yeah I get that but what if the outer ward did something to the environment such as removing the air or making the area inside the ward sub-zero temperatures or even extremely hot. Say if we flash froze them, we'd have time to pull down the existing wards without worrying about being attacked and then pull down our own before going in and ending this."

Lefty looked at Harry for a few minutes as the idea ran through his head. He was considering the possibilities. Finally he spoke. "Let me get with the boys and see if we can make this plan of yours workable. So far it seems like it might be the best chance we have."

Harry nodded. "Let me know if I can help. I'm not experienced like you guys but do tend to think outside the box."

Moody snorted. "That you do junior. It's saved our arses several times too."

Lefty nodded in agreement. "If nothing else, you ought to be able to sell some of your devices to the Aurors. Any thoughts about what you gonna do after?"

Harry looked over at Moody. "Well...I'd like to go back to Hogwarts for my last year. That is if Sue and me are still together."

Moody snorted. "Like we can pry you two apart when you're together."

Harry blushed but continued on. "That still leaves the problem of what to do about Albus."

Moody grew pensive. "That it does lad. That it does. We'll just cross that bridge when we get there. At least you'd have Minnie and Poppy there to run interference if nothing else."

The meeting broke up and Harry climbed the stairs to his room. He had some more things to think about and to try and get a letter out to Susan. After what he read this morning, he was sure his feelings matched hers as the pain from the bond with Hermione faded into nothing at that point. He was now driven, he wanted to get back to where he felt he needed to be and that was with Susan which of course was probably his hormones doing the driving. Still, the only way that could happen was for him to end Tom once and for all and he was determined to accomplish that as as soon as possible.

Sadly, the letter was forgotten as he started thinking about how to get around the wards and what he could do if he could get past them. He still liked the idea of going in and cutting off the head of the organization including Tom's top lieutenants. To do that, he would have to arrive during one of their meetings. He knew Dobby could get in just not with him so at least his little spy would know when. His mind went back to the tennis ball and trying to get information that way. It would be much more dangerous as he would be probing Tom for the way to get past the wards and with Tom's skills in the mind arts, it was quite possible that he would be detected. He was sure that the way in had something to do with the Dark Mark. But as far as he knew, Tom didn't have one so how did he get through the wards. Maybe he was allowed in and anyone wearing his mark was allowed as well. If that was the case, they needed someone with the Dark Mark to take them through.

With that epiphany, Harry jumped up and ran back downstairs. He burst into the room as Moody and Lefty were still talking. Moody looked up. "What's up junior?"

"Several things."

Lefty chuckled. "Ah been thinking about young Miss Bones again. What else is on your mind?"

Harry blushed. "No...well yeah..but could my favorite uncle maybe get his hands on another Skorpion? With some larger clips? And plenty of ammo? Maybe even some of the nasty stuff?"

Lefty nodded. "I can...it'll take me a few days."

"Thanks."

Moody asked. "What are you thinking junior?"

"We just need a..."

Moody was shocked and in awe of Harry's plan. It was one of the craziest things he'd ever heard which was more proof that Harry was indeed his grandson. He couldn't be prouder. "They'd tear you apart junior."

"Not if I was disillusioned and under my cloak. They'd be dead before they got a line on where I was."

"What about the beasties?"

Harry shook his head. "Haven't got that far yet. I figured you guys needed something to do."

Lefty chuckled. "There are ways. I'll work on them too."

Moody sat for a minute. "That's going to put you in the thick of it alone. I really don't want to bury my grandson. Not to mention the hell I'll catch from the others including your little Missy."

Harry nodded but defended his plan. "I'm gonna be at risk no matter how we face him. This way gives me the advantage of surprise and lessens their ability to react."

"You gotta be able to get out too."

"Dobby pops me out. I cast fiendfyre and bring the manor down around the rest. We could just push the beasties into the fire and be done with it all."

"Gonna need a lot of patronuses to corral the dementors."

Harry chuckled but spoke passionately. "Call who we trust in the Order. Call Amelia. She owes us. Hell pops, we could end it all in one night."

Moody held up his hands. "Okay...I'll talk to the lass tomorrow. I can see this is something you're committed to."

Harry just looked down. "Pops...it's been great being here with you. I'm thankful for everything you've done...but I want my life back. I want to see where this thing with Susan goes. I can't do that in hiding."

"Aye lad. You're cramping my style as well."

Harry chuckled and made his way back to his room. He had a letter to write.

AN2: This was the last complete chapter although #9 is mostly complete. I'll get it finished in time to post as normal but no promises on #10. Just that I will do my best since we are coming up on the fun part.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: No...don't own it. Thanks for all your support in this story. It's helped me decide to step back into continuing to produce more stories. As far as those who do not like this story, no one is forcing you to read it so flaming every chapter does you no good. I mean when I don't like a story...I leave it behind and don't read any more so evidently you like something about the story if you continue to read.

In my experience, continuing to flame writers only leads to less material to read as when our feelings are hurt by a review...we tend to not get in any hurry to put out another chapter or story and is probably why I don't post as much as I used to. Now I know I'm no JK or any other published and polished author since I only do this for fun so if you take away my fun...I'll find something else to do.

So to finish my rant...LOL...I'll paraphrase one of my favorite authors in here. You know him as Sinyk. When I get a particularly bothersome review...imagine a gray-haired 55 year old man giving that reviewer the double bird.

Now on with the story. This one is probably another filler chapter with a little more information coming out.

Chapter 9

The thwarting of the three raids crushed Tom's momentum before it ever really got started and as a result, he had all his minions and creatures camped out at Malfoy Manor until he could figure out a way to go on the offensive again. The problem with this was the Lord and Lady of the house were disillusioned with their master. It started on his revival with the way his insanity ruled his actions now but it grew worse after the Malfoy line was effectively ended in the raid on Amelia Bones. On taking up residence, Tom demanded the Lord's suite of the manor and pushed Lucius and Narcissa into one of the guest suites. While still luxurious, it was still the height of disrespect to treat hosts as such. Along with that, the healing of their son was taking much longer than expected as the wounds were resistant to magical treatment. In fact, until the additional curses that accompanied the initial cutting curses were broken, Draco would remain in his current state which was in his bed in a diaper having to be fed much like he was when he was an infant.

The reality to them was the Malfoy line may be at an end as Narcissa could no longer bear children. It was only luck that Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini were not in the blast zone and were able to portkey their wounded comrades back to the manor otherwise, Draco, Greg, Vince, and Pansy would have bled out as Marcus Flint and several others had. For their actions in trying to save their friends, both boys were punished severely by Voldemort for running like cowards and not helping in the fight.

It would take both of them until school started back to recover from Tom's curses and that was only due to the quick thinking of Narcissa. As a thank you for saving her son, the other five teens were whisked away to another Malfoy property so that their mothers could care for them away from Tom's clutches. When they returned to Hogwarts, it would be doing so without most of their comrades. The excitement of being part of the organization their fathers joined died a quick and painful death that night. The lies they'd been led to believe about the superiority of the pure-bloods and their invincibility were exposed and left them feeling numb and disillusioned. If that hadn't killed the fantasy of the glory they would get by being members of the organization, then Tom's torture session surely did.

Most of the parents of Draco's comrades met an end at the house of Amelia Bones. Mr. Parkinson, Crabbe Sr, Goyle Sr, and Blaise's current step-father were all killed in the sitting room at her house as they were the inner circle members surrounding Tom. The raid also saw to the elimination of Peter Pettigrew and Severus Snape. In the previous raids on the mud-bloods, Avery and Mulciber were taken down at the Creevey house. At the Granger raid, Rookwood and Rowle were lost. It was another blow to the younger generation of DE's as their protector at school was now gone.

Of Tom's once feared and powerful inner circle, he had but six members left which included Lucius, Bellatrix, the Lestrange brothers, Nott Sr, and Walden MacNair. There wouldn't be another secret escape from Azkaban as these missing members were dead and not incarcerated. To make it worse, it was all done by two people.

**ALM**

The response from Fudge and Dumbledore was exactly as expected. With three Aurors killed as DE's along with so many upstanding citizens, the Wizengamot was in a uproar primarily stirred up by the two leaders of the government. Even with all the evidence provided, they still tried to make things difficult for Amelia who refused to see reason (in their opinion). She calmly stated that they were all there to kill Susan and herself and they only acted in self defense. She also refused to bring any charges against Moody and his companion for defending them. The neutral faction, led by Jonathan Greengrass, stood in support of the Head of the DMLE and quashed any further action.

The two leaders were upset for different reasons. For Fudge, it was the loss of the gold he was getting for supporting their moves in the legislature. For Albus, well he lost his 'bad' boy and was none too happy about it. He was so upset about Snape's loss that he didn't even send Moody a reprimand for eliminating his spy. Not that it would do any good anyway since they felt Albus and the Order were suitably warned by the last letter Moody sent saying anyone crossing wands with him and his partner would be taken down...hard. It was probably why Severus was trying so hard to get out of there along with the possible confrontation with the off duty Aurors.

**ALM**

Tom took a month to heal and recover. The whole time, he was planning as he had to find a way to get some momentum going in this war if he wanted to realize his dreams of conquest. He debated sending Lucius out on a recruiting mission but held back as the wards would be stronger as long as the Lord of the Manor was present and alive within them. These three failed raids left him feeling extremely vulnerable which was why he was holed up in Malfoy Manor. He was being beaten for the first time and he didn't know how to react. The death of Nagini caused him to question whether she just a casualty of the battle or was his secret out and his special trinkets were being eliminated. He thought he had them all hidden well but when Lucius sacrificed one for one of his schemes, they may have deduced his secret. He gripped his wand tightly as his anger rose once again. Lucius would be getting a special session again for possibly letting his secret out.

Once again, Tom turned his thoughts to his biggest threats. Moody and his partner. Just who was the young wizard who used muggle and magical means to kill his forces? If he didn't know he was dead, Tom would have thought it was Harry Potter with the amount of luck and sheer nerve he had to stand against Tom that way. Even Moody avoided going head to head with him and only did when in the presence of the young man. Amelia Bones and the Greengrasses were on the top of his hit list as well but with them safely behind old family wards, they were currently out of his reach as he no longer had the manpower to mount an attack on them. Even ordering Amelia's assassination in the Ministry would not work as all his agents there were either dead or in prison.

The ward sapper would have helped him achieve his goals but when he sent someone back for it, they found it had been destroyed and there was no way anyone would let him have one as they were too precious to allow another to be destroyed. The sappers were ancient artifacts of which very few remained and those who had them wouldn't part with them as the knowledge to create one was lost to time.

He only had that one because he found out about it through the boasting of his minions. Cormac McLaggen felt he had a leg up on the other new recruits when the Dark Lord personally greeted him and asked to be introduced to his family. The Dark Lord bound Cormac stood in the parlor of his home as he killed Cormac's entire family. Once the deed was done, Tom battered his way past the rudimentary occlumency shields the young man had and found where the sapper was located. After using the Imperio Curse to have Cormac retrieve it, the young man joined his family on the floor of the parlor. Yet another pure-blood line ended at the hands of the Dark Lord.

Tom sat back to consider his options. He knew he didn't have a lot of time to act as his remaining forces would abandon him. The few creatures he did have at his disposal were already taxing his forces abilities at keeping them under control. At best, he thought he had a short window to come up with a plan or he might have to abandon his quest.

**ALM**

A month had passed since Susan went off to Hogwarts and Harry was bouncing off the walls. It didn't help that no word came to them about a meeting of Tom's inner circle as the two warriors were as ready as they could be and growing tired of the waiting. Harry only trained enough now to keep his edge as he didn't want to tire himself out and then have to fight for his life that evening so his magic was feeling like it would burst forth from him. With no word of a meeting, Harry went to help Dobby with the house in Hogsmeade as the progress was slow going with Dobby spending so much time spying on events in Malfoy Manor. The elves at the manor made it a little easier for Dobby as they too wanted the monster out of their master's home.

By October 1st, the outside of the house in Hogsmeade was repaired and restored but it was the inside that needed the most work. The magical concentration of Hogsmeade was enough for Harry to magically work on the house and remain undetected much like he did at Amelia's house. They took it room by room and cleaned, stripped everything down to the bare floors and walls, and then started restoring and redecorating. As most of the woodwork in the house was walnut, they remained true to it and stained, varnished, and shined the wood to give the house a warm yet elegant look. The walls were painted a neutral color for the time being until Susan could give her opinion. Each room offered its own challenges as the house sat empty for so long and all manner of unwanted magical creatures had taken up residence. By the time all that was left of the first floor was the kitchen, Dobby sent Harry away saying he would take care of it as it was in far worse shape than the rest of the first level. Harry would return two days later to find an almost brand new kitchen with a ragged and tired looking Dobby standing in the middle of it.

Harry snickered at Dobby's appearance. "Excellent job Dobby. Why don't you take a day or two off and rest. We can do the upstairs then."

Knowing his master would not relent on his 'order', Dobby popped away secretly glad he could rest some as there had been a fierce battle in the kitchen to reclaim it from several groups of unwanted guests. The battle resulted in most of the kitchen being destroyed which was why it looked almost completely new. Dobby had to replace just about everything in the kitchen including the walls and had just finished putting the final touches on it.

Harry just chuckled as Dobby popped away and moved to the stairwell. Once he crossed the top threshold, all their hard work truly showed as it looked as if he had walked into a different place. The three rooms and a bath were still in their derelict condition. Harry moved forward and began opening one door at a time to see what they had before them. In each case, he shook his head and closed the door quickly. The darkness of the shadows crept him out a little as he heard scurrying in each room. After looking at each room and being revolted at the things growing in the bathroom, he made his way back down the stairs and then back to Moody's place. He could face Tom alone and without fear but that bathroom actually scared him and he wasn't about to tackle any of that without backup.

**ALM**

During this time, the letters continues back and forth between Susan and Harry. Dobby usually carried them so that Hedwig wouldn't see him sending off letters by another owl as she was still not happy about being kept close to Moody's place again now that Susan had returned the Hogwarts. The letters grew more personal and intimate as they continued and both felt they knew the other very well at this point. They still hated being apart but Harry kept Susan pacified by saying he had a surprise for her. Despite her guesses, he wouldn't relent and tell her. Only saying that it was a surprise. The progress of the war was never brought up and Susan couldn't even get a response from her Aunt Amelia about it even though she did deduce that they were working together in some capacity now.

**ALM**

The past month was littered with frustration for Harry as his group encountered setbacks to his plans. The first was Lefty and his team could not find a way to put up a ward over the existing Malfoy wards that would have any effect on environment, time, or personnel including creatures. The Malfoy wards just wouldn't allow anything like that to happen so Tom and his gang were effectively in their own little protective bubble. The only thing they could do was place temporary wards over the existing ones that would block anyone from coming or going out but they would know they were under attack once they went up. The next problem was that no one agreed to Harry's plan as they all saw it as suicide. Amelia was especially vocal as she knew her niece would be infuriated if they allowed Harry to go on this foolhardy quest.

As the meeting continued, Harry quit arguing with his older allies and got quiet. He didn't say much else the rest of the night and once the meeting broke up, Harry excused himself and went to his room. His thoughts were going back to one main point and that was it wouldn't be the first time when he had to act on his own as adults had been hindering him his whole life. The main breaking point was when Amelia refused to release anyone with the Dark Mark to him so that he could get through the wards around Malfoy Manor.

As he thought more about it, he convinced himself that the only way through this obstacle was to capture his own Death Eater and use him as passage through the wards. Under pretense of working on the house, Harry took to ghosting around Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley looking for an opportunity. It was two weeks before one presented itself as he found a low level Death Eater was extorting 'protection' money from several shop owners in the Alley. He wasn't doing it under orders of his master but as a way to obtain drinking money for a night out. So that he wouldn't be caught in the act, Harry waited for the crime to be committed before he took on the Death Eater. He justified not stopping the crime by thinking that it would reduce collateral damage and what was a few galleons compared to ending the threat once and for all. With a pretty good idea of where the Death Eater was heading, Harry made his way to Knockturn Alley and slipped in unnoticed. He moved down the alley just a little until he found a suitable place to wait for his prey.

It took about half an hour before the thug made his way into Knockturn. Once he passed Harry's hiding spot at the beginning of the alley, the thug was disillusioned, stunned, and summoned in the blink of an eye. When the disillusionment was lifted, Harry wasted no time to find out if he had what he needed and ripped his shirt sleeve to find no Dark Mark. With a huff of disappointment, Harry set about covering his tracks. Knowing the seedy nature of the alley, Harry set about making it look like a mugging and took all the coins the man had on him. He conjured a bag for the coins and would banish it into the shop the man hit earlier when he left for the evening.

Leaving the man behind, he moved deeper in to the alley to try and locate another suspect. As had been happening for the last week, he came up empty and moved back out into Diagon Alley and then made his way home. Once he appeared in Moody's house, he was confronted by two adults who sat at the kitchen table.

"Just where have you been laddie?"

Harry walked over to the cold cabinet and pulled out a soda before going and sitting with Lefty and his pops. Once he sat down, he took a deep breath. "Out working on a new plan since the last one was a bust."

Moody asked. "All week?"

"If that's what it takes. Yeah."

Moody and Lefty glanced at each other until Lefty spoke. "Anything you want to share?"

"Not really."

Moody growled out. "I know you're frustrated junior. Hell we all are but we need to work out a plan together."

Harry snorted. "Yeah just like the last one. You know it's always going to have to be me that does it. Despite what I think about prophecies, Tom and Albus forced this one into play. There is NOT going to be a plan we can come up with where any of you will feel like my risk is acceptable."

Lefty could only nod and a few minutes of silence took effect. It was finally broken by Moody. "Amelia contacted me. She says your little Missy is getting worried since she hasn't heard from you in a week. Care to explain?"

"Been busy"

"With what?"

"Plans"

"Are you gonna let us in on these plans?"

Harry sat back in thought. "Only when the time is right."

"And when will that be?"

"Just like I said...when the time is right. So for now, let me get on with what _I_ have to do." With that said, Harry tossed his soda into the trash bin and left the room. The two older men heard him climb the stairs and enter his room before closing the door.

Lefty sat there for a second before picking up his tumbler of firewhiskey and downing it on one go. Once the glass hit the table, Lefty stood. "Thanks for the drink old friend. Just remember...the apple didn't fall far from the tree."

Moody drained his glass and nodded. "I know and that's what worries me."

**ALM**

Harry walked into the room and saw the letters from Susan stacked up on his nightstand. For the last week, he was so wrapped up in figuring out a way to make his plan work that he totally ignored them. After taking off his boots, he sat back against the headboard and began reading. As the letters progressed, he grew more disgusted with himself for ignoring the person who was becoming the most important to him. At first they asked if he was alright and if he had been injured. When he didn't respond, she grew more nervous and even asked Dobby about his well being. When told that Harry was healthy and uninjured, Susan began thinking that he was breaking up with her so that by the time he got to the last letter, he was loathing himself for ignoring her.

He grabbed a piece of parchment and began to write furiously. By the time he was done, he called for Dobby and asked him to take the letter to Susan and make sure it was in her hand before leaving.

When Dobby silently popped in her dorm, Susan was half dressed as she was getting ready for bed. He could see the tear tracks on her face and despite his devotion, was actually angry at Harry for ignoring her and at himself for allowing Harry to do so.

He quietly said. "Mistress"

With an 'eeep' she turned to look at the intruder. Once she saw Dobby, the tears began to fall again. Dobby finally bowed low. "Mistress, Master sends a letter. Dobby blames himself for allowing Master to get lost in his head. Dobby submits himself to Mistress for punishment for allowing this to happen."

Susan huffed. "Like I'm going to let you punish yourself. So in return, you will sit and tell me everything you are allowed to about what's going on and why my boyfriend has been ignoring me. He is still my boyfriend isn't he?"

Dobby nodded. "Dobby suggest Mistress read Master's letter and Dobby will wait and talk with Mistress when she finishes,"

Susan sat on the bed and unfolded the letter and then began to read.

 _Sue,_

 _I am such a prat and can only apologize for not replying to your letters. In fact, I'm an ass as I didn't even read them until tonight. I have no excuse...not really._

 _To answer your very last question, NO. I do not want to break up. You've become a big part of my life and I hope that lasts for many years to come. I guess that's mostly the reason for you not hearing from me. I want this to be over so that I can get on with my life. Hopefully with you in it._

 _Now that I've apologized and calmed your fears, and yes I know this isn't the end of it, I'll try to explain._

 _I know we know each other pretty well now and you are probably more in tune to my moods than anyone else except maybe Moody. I came up with a plan to end the threat of Tom and his merry men. The adults didn't like it and thought it too risky. Maybe it is...but the fact of the matter is that no matter how it ends, I will be at risk as you and I both know. The way I see it, it is my risk to take if I ever want to have a life._

 _In the mean time, as my earlier plan was shot down, I came up with a modified version and have been working to put it in place. Yes my plan is risky but I know it will work._

 _I'm going to ask that you trust me in this and not say anything to anyone. You know I don't have a choice thanks to Tom and Albus._

 _Please don't read anything into it if you don't hear from me right away. You are always in my thoughts and I guess I'm just pushing so hard for the end so that we can be together and see where this thing between us is going._

 _I'm starting to ramble so I'll end it here before you realize that I'm an idiot and change your mind_

 _All My Love,_

 _H_

She managed a small smile. At least she knew it wasn't over before it could really get started and they could get to the good stuff. His letter was short and direct along with weak in details. What she did glean from it was he had a plan that he thought would work and asked for help. The adults, which probably included her aunt, wouldn't commit to or help him with it because they thought it was too dangerous. She gave a sigh. She wouldn't foolishly think it wasn't but she knew he'd faced some pretty horrendous things in his life and would do as he asked of her and trust him to see it through. The smile returned as she knew nothing would change Harry's mind or his plans. His determination and dedication was one of the things she liked so much about him She also knew that he had faith in his plan and was going to do it anyway with or without help.

She turned to Dobby."What can you tell me?"

"Mistress knows Dobby always watches Master Harry. Master was...consumed by his plan and did not mean to ignore Mistress. Dobby will make sure Master Harry does not do it again. Dobby thinks Master's plan will work and Dobby will be there to make sure Master is safe and escapes. Dobby will not tell even Mistress or Master Whizzy-Eye what Master is planning. Dobby will not take chance that Master's enemies find out."

Susan nodded. "Just keep him safe and bring him back to me."

"Dobby will Mistress. Master Harry only wants to be able to spend time with his lady like everyone else his age."

**ALM**

Another week passed by and Harry was still frustrated and anxious. If Tom followed form, he would once again strike on Halloween and that was coming up fast. Harry's forays into Knockturn Alley and every other place where the darker members of society hung out produced no results. He desperately needed a marked Death Eater to get through those wards and it was evident Tom was keeping them close.

He did learn from his mistakes and made sure Susan had a note from him every day just to let her know he was thinking about her even though he was focusing on the endgame.

The Saturday of that week was a Hogsmeade weekend for the students and Harry was not going to break his promise to Susan that they would spend time together.

When she woke that Saturday morning, there was a note lying on her nightstand. In it, she was asked on date for that day and given an address. She was assured she would be watched over until she was safely inside meaning Dobby would be looking out for her.

She was nervous since she hadn't seen Harry since September 1st and was fretting over what she should wear. She knew Harry preferred her in casual clothes so she chose a pair of tight jeans topped by a form fitting sweater. She kept her hair down because he seemed to be entranced by it at times and wanted all the advantages she could get.

The house was still not complete as Harry's focus was on ending the war or at least part of it. Dobby managed to get part of the upstairs done when he wasn't shadowing Harry and that was usually while he was asleep so it was a good thing that house elves didn't need much sleep. The remaining rooms were sealed off so none of the infestations could escape.

The upstairs hall was cleaned and redecorated along with the bathroom. The bathroom was so bad that he called in some of his elf friends so they could share in the fun. In their exuberance after the battle of the bathroom, the master bedroom was cleaned and stripped down but was not yet decorated. The elves left tired but extremely happy that night.

He fretted for a bit over that but then realized that his Master and Mistress did not need to rush things so the bare bedroom would act as a deterrent he hoped. He would make sure all was ready before Christmas as he was sure the first part of the conflict would be resolved by then. It also helped that his elf friends begged him to let them help with the rest of the house. One of these elves was named Spunky and he was trained as a grounds keeping elf. One look at the overgrown backyard had him begging Dobby to allow him to play out there. With so much going on at the moment, Dobby agreed so that he could focus on protecting Harry, He also knew he couldn't over do it too much if he was to be any help to Harry in stopping Tom.

**ALM**

Neville was waiting a the doors to the Great Hall when they arrived for breakfast. After a quick kiss to Hannah, he made a questioning look towards Susan that only Hannah could see and she just shrugged her shoulders. While it wasn't unusual to dress casually for the trip to Hogsmeade, Susan had taken it further than ever before as she radiated an attractiveness that took the girl next door image to a fantasy inducing state. Many boys were taking a long look at the radiant young woman as she walked to the table with Neville and Hannah. It would cause some problems for them as their dates for the day were rather put out that they were giving another girl their attention.

As they sat down, Neville spoke. "Um Sue...you seem to have over dressed for our walk around the village today."

Susan blushed and looked down while mumbling something. Hannah asked. "What was that?"

"I have a date. He's coming to see me."

Hannah grew excited. "So we'll finally get to meet Mr. Right?"

Susan blushed again. "No. Not today. Maybe soon. He wanted to spend the day with only me. He's got a lot going on and I...wanted him to have a reason to...well for us to stay together."

Hannah gasped. "You sound as if you're going to seduce him."

Susan blushed again. "Geez Hannah. While the thought is tempting...we...I'm not ready for that just yet. We've only been seeing each other for a few months. Plus...I don't want him running away."

Neville snorted. "Looking like that...he won't run."

Hannah was thinking deeply and spoke her thoughts unknowingly. "Running away? Evidently hot...and has Susie all tied up. Only one person ever got that kind of reaction from her...but he's..."

Susan's eyes went wide and she snapped out. "Not funny Hannah Lynn. I don't need to be reminded of that today of all days. I'll make my own way to the village."

She stood abruptly and left a gaping Neville and Hannah. She moved to the end of the Ravenclaw table and sat with Luna. As she plopped down, Luna looked at her with her dreamy look and Susan spoke. "Not you too Luna."

Luna tilted her head the other way and leaned forward. "What's the matter Suuuusie? Hannah hit too close to home? You won't have to hide him much longer and then you'll be the envy of every girl here. I was even thinking of asking you to consider me as a mistress or concubine once you were married. I imagine all the training he's been doing has given him quite a bit of stamina."

Susan blushed bright red. "Stop Luna...please?"

Luna giggled. "I'm sorry Susan. It was just too easy."

They finished their breakfast in silence and when she was done, Susan got up from her seat and headed for the castle doors so she could be prodded by Filch before making her way to the carriages. She still didn't understand why they were searched on the way out of the castle.

**ALM**

Once in Hogsmeade, Susan began walking towards the address she was given. She was heading to a part of the village she never explored before as a student and even though she knew the DE's were less active at the moment, it still made her feel nervous. She quietly whispered "Dobby" before feeling a hand take hers and giving it a little squeeze. She whispered again. "Thank you for watching over me."

She felt another squeeze of her hand before barely hearing, "Dobby always do Miss Susan."

With renewed courage, Susan made her way to the house and was shocked when she saw it looking almost new compared to the houses surrounding it. She made it to the door as it opened and she was pulled into a hug followed by a passionate kiss. She never saw who was kissing her but knew from the lips that were attached to her that it was Harry. With her eyes still closed, she said. "Mmmm...that was some kiss but my boyfriend is supposed to be around here somewhere and I don't think he'd appreciate someone else ravaging my lips like that."

With humor in his voice, Harry replied. "Well...I guess I'll just have to see if I can steal you away from him. After a kiss like that, I don't think I'll be able to resist."

She opened her eyes and saw the object of her fantasies and daydreams standing in front of her with a grin on his face. She looked over his shoulder into the room and then placed a hand on his chest and began pushing him backwards. With his legs against a couch, Susan gave a final shove to place him on it and then straddled his lap. Before either knew it, a half hour had passed by while they were engaged in a needy snog where both tried to show how much they missed the other.

Mid morning found them snuggled together on the same couch as they talked and caught up face to face. They started off by Susan telling him all about life and rumors from school. How much more peaceful it was with Snape gone along with Draco and his butt boys. The only two Slytherin boys left in their year was Nott and Zabini who both looked like they had a massive wake up call over the summer and pretty much stayed to themselves. No one was talking about why the rest of the group were not at school even though Susan knew through Harry.

Harry snorted at her comment. "I imagine being at your Aunt's house that night was an education in the real world for them. Seeing Draco and crew being emasculated was sure to have an effect as they saw they weren't the kings of the world after all. Our intel said both were punished by Tom for trying to help their friends and then they stayed hidden the rest of the summer."

She nodded and then finished with the three girls that were left in their year from Slytherin who were not saying much either even though Susan knew Daphne and Tracey were from neutral houses. In Daphne's case, she was trying to avoid attention from either faction after her father's leap in power in the Wizengamot. Millicent was always a follower and without Pansy, she began following Daphne and Tracey so was no longer an antagonist in the school. Once she was done with Slytherin, she spoke of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and some of the members there along with her suspicions of where they fell in the power struggle within magical England. As she finished with those two houses, she asked. "Do you want to hear about the Lions?"

Harry just shrugged. Susan just smiled sweetly at him. "Well...Neville started seeing Hannah last year. With you being gone and all that went on, he didn't want to spend much time around his housemates anymore."

Harry nodded. "Neville was always the best of us. I know everyone liked to pick on him but I always respected him for his quiet nobility."

Susan kissed his cheek. "He'd be thrilled to hear that. He always thought of you as one of his best friends. He didn't have many and you were always kind to him and took time to listen to what he had to say."

Harry smiled. "Looking back...he was probably the truest friend I had as well. He's probably the only one of the lot of them that I'll have anything to do with when I go back."

Susan smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Good! It'll make things easier since he is dating my best friend."

Harry made a frown at that comment. Susan saw it and rolled her eyes. "She knows she was being an idiot in our fourth year. The first thing she'll probably do is apologize for it. She really is a good person. She was just hung up on Ernie at that point and was following his lead. She at least realized how big of an idiot he was and saw the error of her ways."

Harry held up his hands. "Hey...I promise to treat her as she treats me."

Susan smiled. "That's all I can ask besides...you'll see I'm right."

Harry only nodded. She then thought about what she was talking about. "Let's see...Thomas and Finnegan still think they are God's gift to women and spend most of their time chasing witches. Neville said that when they found out what happened, they started avoiding the Weasleys. Lav and Parvarti are pretty much the same."

Harry shrugged. "So they are just staying out of it like always. Can't say as I blame them."

Susan agreed. "Let's see...Colin still supports you. Especially now. He won't hear a bad word about you and threatened to hex Weasley next time he said something in his presence. His little brother is the same way. Colin lost his crush on Weasellette when she started prancing around trying to get some of the more affluent pure-bloods to notice her but that was only because you weren't there for her to pursue."

Harry shuddered and Susan grinned. "I'll protect you from the little redhead Harry."

Harry laughed. "Yeah but who'll protect me from you?"

She mock pouted at him as he started tickling her which led to more wrestling and then another snog session. When they recovered somewhat, Harry said. "So...you've avoided the other two. Might as well get it over with."

Susan nodded. "She-who-I-will-not-name is on a downward spiral. Her grades are dropping and she seems to be towing the party line."

Harry nodded. "It fits with what I have read about that type of binding. What about the red-headed idiot?"

"Well...with you and Malfoy gone...he seems to think he's the king of the school. Of course it's only in his mind as the rest of the school basically ignores him and treats him like the idiot he is. It's probably why the Weasellette can't secure a long-term relationship as no one wants to deal with him."

Harry sat there quietly for a moment. When he met her eyes, she could see the coldness and determination in them. "You know he's going to pay for what he did to _her_. _All_ of them will pay for what they did to _her_."

Susan grabbed his hand. "And I'll be there by your side the whole time. I hope you don't think any less of me and this will probably sound very wrong but in a way I'm kinda grateful for what they did since it gave _us_ a chance."

Harry really didn't know what to say to that. He didn't think any less of her for saying it but he knew that it was true despite the lives that were hurt by those actions. "That's the only good to come out of that whole thing. So...are you ready to get off this couch and take a look around?"

"Sure...so what is this place?"

"Bearclaw bought it for us...I mean me. It's listed as an investment. Dobby and I have been restoring the house as it was in pretty bad shape...well more Dobby than me. I can put it back on the market, use it as rental property, or keep it for personal use...for a few years. At the moment, it's a way for us to see each other and not be seen...if you know what I mean."

"When and why did you buy it?"

Harry chuckled. "The when was the day after you went to Hogwarts and I was feeling pretty raw about not seeing you...not to mention your letter that next morning. The why is because I wanted to have a place for us to see each other."

Susan smirked and poked him in the side making him jump. "So...you bought it because you couldn't stand being away from me? Sounds like you are already whipped?"

Harry could only respond in the most mature manner he could think of. He stuck his tongue out at her and then took her on a tour making sure to avoid the rooms that were not completed yet. He as also grateful that the one clean bedroom was not furnished as with how forward Susan was being, he'd be afraid she'd try to push their relationship forward and while he wanted the same thing, he just didn't think it was a good idea to do that this soon in their relationship. Little did he know that those same thoughts were going through Susan's head.

**ALM**

After a filling lunch served by Dobby, they moved to the secluded backyard and continued their conversations out in the sunshine. For most of the afternoon, they talked about whatever subject came up and just relaxed in each others company while occasionally sharing sweet kisses. As the afternoon approached evening and they both knew Susan would have to get back soon, the kisses became a little more desperate and heated as neither wanted the day to end.

When it became time that Susan would have to leave or miss the carriages, Harry threw on his invisibility cloak and took her hand as they ran for the pick up point. Just as they were about to round the last corner, he abruptly stopped and pulled Susan in his arms where they shared one last kiss.

As they parted, she called back, "Don't get yourself killed but hurry up and finish the bastard. I'd like you here in January."

The only answer she got was the sound of a soft pop as he apparated away from where he was seeing her off. As she climbed in the carriage, she wiped a lone tear from her eye. She hated that they couldn't be together regularly like they had this past summer but appreciated the effort he went through so that they could spend time together. The tears finally stopped when it finally truly dawned on her that he bought a house just so they could spend some time together. If he felt strongly enough about her that he bought a house, she knew that things just may work out. The thought even crossed her mind that if he completed his task, she might have to move things forward a bit and give him a proper reward.

When she made it back to the castle, she went into the Great Hall and proceeded to eat dinner. She let out a sigh as it would have been nice to have dinner together as well. Her mind kept replaying the whole afternoon and it kept a slight smile on her face for the rest of the evening. With a little trepidation, Neville and Hannah joined her when she was about half-way finished.

Hannah quietly said. "Sue...I'm sorry about this morning. It was thoughtless of me."

Neville added. "Yeah Susan...I'm sorry too. I would like to meet this mystery guy one day if he makes you this happy. So...did you have a good day?"

Susan looked up at both of them with her eyes dancing and a broad smile on her face. "The best."

Hannah asked. "Is it serious?"

Susan nodded. "I'm really starting to think so. He did something that showed me how much he likes me. It really took me by surprise."

"Can you tell us about it?"

Susan shook her head. "Not yet...maybe by Christmas but that depends on a lot of things."

Neville asked. "Like what?"

Susan looked away for a second as she thought about how to answer. Finally she just sighed. "I can't really say. He's a really good man so don't worry about me. If it's any consolation...he has my aunt's blessing to date me and you know how protective she is."

Hannah placed her hand on Neville's arm and gave him a slight glare which caused him to back off. Susan knew they were just worried about her as they had been friends since they were little.

**ALM**

When Harry got back to Moody's, he ghosted through the house and headed to his room. He knew it was futile if Moody was in the house as that damned eye would always catch him.

"So Junior...had a good day did you?"

"Yeah pops...it was great."

Moody chuckled. "Just make sure it isn't too great. You'd hate to have Ami coming after you with half her force."

"Sure pops...wouldn't want the Moody reputation with women to land on me. They'd have me categorized like my godfather."

Harry continued his way to his room and as soon as he closed the door, Dobby popped in.

"Master Harry...Spanky and Slappy bes telling Dobby that there's a marked one out of the wards."

"Who?"

"Dobby not know but does know it's not a member of the circle."

"Is the room ready?"

"Yes Master Harry. Dobby prepared it with help of other elves."

"Okay...let me get ready and we'll go grab him."

"Master Harry should rest. Dobby, Spanky, and Slappy can bes taking care of it. Master needs to start preparing for the last fight."

"Are you sure?"

Dobby just nodded. "Okay then...you guys bag the DE and keep your ears open for the meeting."

Dobby just stood there looking at Harry. When Harry noticed, he asked. "Is there something else?"

"Yes Master Harry. Slappy and Spanky bes not wanting to bes paid for helping Master. Theys be wanting Master to bond them like Master did Dobby."

Harry sighed. "I guess Winky as well?"

Dobby nodded.

"Okay...tell them I'll do it but not until this is done. Then you guys can start repairing my family homes."

Dobby gave a large grin. "Theys will all be very happy Master Harry. I promise you theys be good elves just like Dobby."

As Harry undressed and then climbed into bed, he shuddered to think what the basement of the house had been like if the upstairs and kitchen were any indication. He chuckled as he thought that Dobby and his buddies were having the time of their lives battling evil dust bunnies and infestations. If they were having this much fun, maybe he would open a business that restored magical manors and let them have their fun while they made money for the family. He could see the possibilities as a win/win for him as well as the elves. He was sure Bearclaw could put him in contact with the right people.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclosure: No...still don't own any of it. It belongs to JK Rowling and whoever else that's not me.

AN: Thanks for the support. Snake...you had me laughing. Not at your support but by how much you reminded me of your dad and his way with words when he was _displeased_ with someone. I can see the apple didn't fall far from that tree either.

To the reviewer, apology accepted just make it clear who you are upset at. I say this because there have been times I've almost quit posting due to reviews and I'd like to think that I have fairly thick skin by now. I only ask caution in general from reviewers because the writer may be young and might give up on the dream of writing because people can be rather cruel at times.

As far as I'm concerned, I'll continue writing until I don't enjoy it anymore. I do ask that you bear with me as I work a lot of hours and have multiple projects going on at all times which means that my posting will slow down again. I'm hoping to get a chapter out every two weeks now. As best as I can tell, I've probably got 2 chapters and an epilogue left in this story.

Chapter 10

The waiting was excruciating. Harry now had his key into the Malfoy estate but could do little with it as a meeting had yet to be called. He was so close to ending this once and for all but without the opportunity to take out the command structure of Tom's organization, it would do little good. He had a plan but as with every operation he went on with his grandfather, those plans were loose and non-restrictive as in every battle, predictability and conformity would only get you killed.

The other part of the problem would be the aftermath...if he survived. He would have to answer to his family for going off alone and along with Amelia, he knew it wouldn't be pretty. In his attempt to plan for every eventuality, he had letters written to Susan, Moody, Minerva, Poppy and surprisingly Hermione in case he didn't survive the coming confrontation. He thought about adding one to Albus but decided against it. Words would not do enough to get the justice from the man who'd messed up the majority of his life.

His earlier thoughts about waiting until after it was all over to bond the other three elves was discarded. He couldn't deny them the power boost and stability of the bond which would benefit them until they moved or passed on even if he did not survive. He accomplished this in a unique way as he _ordered_ them to go to Susan that night while she slept and extend the bond between them to her as well. After his rendezvous with Susan in the Hogsmeade house, he was beginning to see things from her point of view and was starting to believe that what they had just might be long term. He would have had the elves bond to Moody but he knew his grandfather wasn't really the type of man to want or need a house elf to help him besides, Moody would recognize the bond and would know rather than suspect that something was up.

**ALM**

The opportunity finally occurred on October 30th as a meeting was called. With the adults not being willing to commit on the former plan, Harry formed a new plan along with a new team. He knew they were tough as they already faced and defeated numerous dark and nasty creatures in the newly finished remodeled house in Hogsmeade. At this point, they pictured themselves as proud warriors and were ready and willing to stand beside Harry as he took on some of the most vile creatures of their time. Of course, Harry cared for the little people just as much as they cared for him and wouldn't put them in direct risk even though their tasks would be somewhat risky. It also helped that the scope of his plans could be broadened with the help of the elves as the distraction he originally planned for the adults to accomplish would be undertaken by the elves who could easily get out of danger much faster than the adults could.

Another thing he learned was that as human magic was fairly useless against some of these creatures, elvin magic was not. When it was time to move, Harry would find himself with an army of house elves who wanted nothing more than to be a part of Harry's plans for the future. Plenty of work and a kind master was more than they ever dreamed of and if Harry survived, it would probably take him a whole day to bond all the elves who answered Dobby's call. There were many reasons why they came but the most common was they wanted a better life for themselves. With Harry, they knew they could have the families they'd always been denied by their former masters and mistresses as many of them came from the dark families who had been recently defeated by the Chosen One.

The addition of more than fifty house elves caused Harry to update his plans. The female elves were just as eager to help in the battle but Harry could not bring himself to commit the sweet little ladies to the fighting. To him, it would be like sending his little sisters out to fight and that was just wrong to him. It'd be like sending Susan out to face the DE's and though he knew she was a strong and powerful witch, he didn't want her anywhere near a battle as it had a tendency to change you. Besides, he had a different task for them.

**ALM**

The elves grew up on the stories of their relatives/ancestors, the High Elves, who were warriors in their own right even if they preferred the path of peace. As a result, the elves began arming themselves with weapons. Sticks, stones, beater's bats, kitchen knives, wooden spoons, and many different gardening tools were their weapons of choice as they had been wielding such things for years and were very comfortable with them. One even brought an iron with him.

As the meeting began, multiple pops could be heard all around the Malfoy Estate. It was evident that word had spread among the house elves and now there were over two hundred surrounding the estate. Many came to help as they wanted a better life for themselves as well and hoped Harry ending the darkness would change their lot in life with their current masters. Most of them were not warriors or even considered themselves as such but they would be there to support the female elves who were tasked with keeping the DE's and dark creatures contained. No one but Harry and the elves that crossed the wards with him would be allowed to escape.

The darkies, as the elves described them, heard the pops but no one inside the manor would hear about it as they were under strict orders to not disturb the high command as they made plans. To do this would mean either death or torture and none were brave enough to risk it. Besides, their master said they were safe behind these wards.

Another pop was heard as Harry, Dobby, Slappy, and Spanky arrived with another man wearing a bag over his head. Following their arrival, the warrior elves silently appeared within the perimeter of the estate and began systematically taking out the posted guards leaving no one to raise the alarm. While Harry was at first surprised that they could be fierce and brutal, he then realized they had been oppressed for much longer than he had. There was a moment of levity as one particularly old elf was using a wooden spoon to beat his victim into submission. Harry could only gather from the way the elf was going after the man that they were familiar with each other. The one with the iron was also being very effective in taking down the DE's.

Harry grabbed the hooded man by the front of his robes and pulled him along with him. Once they reached the gate, Harry ripped the sleeve on the robe and held it up against the ironwork of the gate. A brief flash occurred and the gate swung open. Still dragging the man, Harry stepped through followed by the pops of his three escorts as they took their positions closer to the doors on the house. Once on the grounds, Harry turned his wand on the man and cast a point blank reducto into his back severing his spinal cord. The hooded man dropped like a rock.

**ALM**

The elves on the perimeter raised their hands and started chanting. The elves formed a bubble over the estate which would keep everyone in and since it was elven magic, and considerably higher than the normal wards, no one inside was aware they were trapped. At that moment, nobody was getting in or out until Master Harry was finished.

Back in the woods surrounding the estate, two of Lefty's men watched as the assault began. They knew from Lefty that the young man was working on a plan, they just never expected him to do it without them. Getting over their shock, one tried to apparate to inform Lefty but found himself trapped in the elven ward. Not knowing how long it would take to reach the edge of the ward, he shot a message patronus to Lefty informing him the kid was making his move. Within ten minutes, Moody and Lefty along with his crew appeared outside the wards helpless to do much of anything besides watch.

**ALM**

The elves on the inside went on the move as Harry moved to the doors. They began attacking in mass and keeping the dark creatures occupied. Many of the DE's who were camped outside found themselves at the mercy of the creatures as they were stirred up by the elves. The kitchen knives and garden tools were particularly effective in wounding the creatures while the other weapons seemed more of an annoyance which mainly kept the creatures off balance. The elves' speed and agility paid off as many of the trolls and giants ended up swinging wildly. The beauty of this was that it had them taking out many of the other creatures or just starting fights with their own kind. Two giants were now on the ground wrestling as they turned on each other. The effect of their rolling around caused mass destruction and flattened anything they came into contact with. The tent city on the pristine grounds of Malfoy Estate became a gory mess.

As the outside offensive was going well, as soon as Harry reached the doors of the manor, Dobby, Slappy, and Spanky popped inside and started clearing a path for Harry to the meeting room. A moment later, Harry disappeared as he cast a disillusionment charm over himself and then pulled on the cloak. He waited for a moment before Dobby reappeared with a pop. Dobby then disappeared and a pop was heard as Dobby took his master into the snake's lair. On the other side of the doors, Harry and Dobby arrived to a ghastly sight as their were bodies littering the hallway. Taking this as his map, Harry moved forward as he followed the bodies. Most looked as they had blunt force trauma as most of the bodies seemed to have been hurled into walls. Others seemed to have Malfoy heirlooms and artifacts embedded into their bodies as if they were banished at them. Harry gained even more respect for the elves as they did this without raising an alarm within the house as the doors to the meeting room were still closed.

All the studying paid off as Harry cast a charm on Dobby and himself causing them both to phase out of reality. After a deep breath, Harry stepped through the closed doors quickly followed by Dobby who always knew where Harry was even when invisible.

The charm only lasted for a minute and they 'phased' back to normal once inside. No one knew they were there as Nagini would have been the one who picked up their presence. They silently moved to the side of the door just in case someone tried to raise the alarm and watched the meeting. To his surprise, his luck was holding at the moment. The inner circles had their wands on the table in front of them. Evidently Tom didn't trust them.

Harry stood there for maybe a minute listening to the plans being made. Unfortunately for the DE's, those plans would hopefully never be implemented. Harry finally took a deep breath and dropped both wands into his hands. In his mind, the phrase from one of his favorite movies and TV shows popped in his head. _"There can be only one."_

This was the moment that he practiced for. He started to think about Oliver Wood's words to him years ago but shook himself out of it and refocused. The wands came up and he cast two spells. From his left hand, the summoning spell jerked all the wands off the table and to the other side of the door. Harry hoped that would throw them off a little. From his right hand, he cast a diffindo drawing it out. The red ribbon of death flew out in an arc. As they were all seated or in the process of trying to stand, the arc caught most of them either in the neck or chest. Lucius, MacNair, and Nott Sr lost their heads to the spell. The Lestrange brothers didn't lose their heads completely but could now give Nearly Headless Nick a run for his title of nearly headless. Bellatrix was caught across her chest and fell as well. The gash was deep and she was bleeding out quickly. If Harry had taken the time, he would have been able to see her destroyed heart beating its last as she succumbed to the spell. Tom was hit across his torso and blasted back but the damage from the curse was already healing due to the numerous rituals the psychopath had undertaken. This was going to be the hard part as he knew Tom would be hard to kill even without his Horcruxes. The deaths of the Inner Circle only marginally improved his chances of survival. Again from his favorite movie and TV show, a song started playing in his head. He could clearly hear Queen's "Who Wants to Live Forever" as he braced himself for the fight of his life.

Harry knew he would never win in a magical fight with Tom as he had too much experience for Harry win in a duel despite all his training. One wand slipped back in its holster and a Skorpion took its place. Harry knew his only chance was to keep Tom off balance or to overload his healing powers. The first clip was emptied into Tom's body as he tried to get up from the blast of the curse. The bullets riddling his body threw Tom back once again giving Harry time to switch out for the second Skorpion acquired for him by Lefty. This one was loaded with armor piercing explosive cartridges. As Tom tried to get up once again, Harry unloaded the next clip into his nemesis. This time, the damage was much more severe and was straining Tom's regenerative powers. His reaction was slower as he once again tried to regain his feet. With all his powers going towards keeping himself alive, Tom didn't have anything to spare to try and escape the situation he now found himself in. He already knew he was under strong anti-magical travel wards and under normal circumstances, he could probably break through them but not this time.

Just as he shakily got to his feet, Harry pulled off the cloak and canceled the disillusionment charm. As Tom saw who was approaching him, his eyes grew wide.

"But...,you're dead. I sent the Dementors after you myself."

Harry chuckled. "Much like you...rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated. They killed a golem. I wasn't even there."

Harry reached behind him and pulled out one of his Rugers and shot Tom right between the eyes. This time, Tom was on his back on the floor. Harry felt a surge of magic as Tom tried to pull in magic from his followers but they were too few at this point to really help much. Unable to move, Tom stared hatefully at Harry as he walked towards the evil wizard tossing a tennis ball in his hand.

"Nothing is going to save you this time Tom. Not your rituals, not your Horcruxes, and not your people. It's over for good this time."

"How?"

"Let's just say that I got tired of you and a twinkly-eyed old fart messing with my life. I want my life back and I intend to get it no matter who gets in my way. Now that you're out of the way...or soon will be...old Albus will be next along with _his_ inner circle."

Tom started laughing. "You'll be just like me in the end Harry Potter. I am what I am because of Dumbledore's meddling."

Harry shook his head. "No...we may be similar but I won't be like you. I want to live in peace. I don't want to rule anyone."

Harry knew he couldn't wait any longer in case Tom pulled some miraculous feat and started recovering. He closed his eyes and concentrated. As his hand lifted, the Sword of Gryffindor appeared in it and he gave a sigh of relief that it actually came to him.

Harry tossed the tennis ball up with his left hand and took a swing at the ball. The moment it contacted, the ball split in two and a piercing scream reverberated throughout the room. The smoky vapor began to leak out of the ball and seemed to look between the two people in the room. It evidently recognized Harry and knew it had no chance to possess him. It had been inside the young wizard his whole life and was never able to take over or even gain much of a foothold towards doing that. It then turned to the more familiar one lying on the floor and shot into Tom's chest. Despite the screams of the pain from his soul pieces recombining, Tom's body began to heal once again. Harry knew he had to act now before he was in another battle for his life.

The sword struck again and Tom's head rolled away from its body. For good measure, Harry stabbed Tom in the chest where his heart was supposed to be as he wasn't really sure if Tom even had a heart.

An eerie silence fell over the room until Harry heard a voice. "Master Harry did it. Master is free."

"Not yet my little friend but we're a lot closer than before."

Harry then conjured a bag and used the sword to roll the head into it. Once done, he held up the pommel to his lips and kissed it. "Thank you again for coming to my rescue."

The sword glowed briefly and then disappeared once again. With a snap of Dobby's fingers, the doors to the meeting room flew open to find Slappy and Spanky standing there waiting. Harry said. "Let's go join the others. Have everyone pop outside the wards."

The dark inhabitants of Malfoy Estate were as shocked by the sudden end of the attack as they were by the beginning. The DE's took the brunt of the damage as the dark creatures reacted in panic so that the elves had little to do with the humans except for the occasional hit on one who the elves had been mistreated by before. As the accidental deaths occurred, the Dementors took advantage and swooped down to claim the soul causing more panic. In the end, there were more dark creatures on the ground than humans.

Dobby grabbed Harry's hand and took him through the barrier only to be quickly joined by all the other elves. He looked them over and some seemed a little roughed up but otherwise fine. "Is everyone okay?"

Winky spoke up. "Wes had a few who were hurts Master Harry buts wes already taken them to be healed. No elves joined with magic this day."

Harry smiled. "That makes me very happy and I thank all of you for your help. But I think we have one last task to do."

As one, the elves turned back to the manor and raised their hand again this time with the help of the elves who were fighting inside the wards. The wards flashed with the extra power and soon a dome of pure white was encompassing the estate.

Dobby turned to Harry. "Its be ready Master Harry."

Harry nodded and walked up to the barrier and pulled his old holly wand from his holster as he had Dobby reacquire it for this very purpose. As he was 'dead' he didn't think his magical signature would show up on the magical grid but even if it could have, Harry was sure the Malfoy wards along with the elven wards would obscure it. He stuck his arm through the wards and for the next minute, he cast fiendfyre no less than ten times and then dropped the wand before pulling his arm out. It was the reason behind using his original wand as he wasn't trying to control the spell and he wasn't about to sacrifice one of his Ralph wands for this.

The flames manifested themselves as basilisks, thestrals, phoenixes, and dragons before the final spells spat out fiery representatives of the house elves and for the next half hour, the flames consumed everything and everyone within the wards. By the time the wards were dropped, the darkness that permeated and inhabited the estate was cleansed by fire and there was nothing left except scorched ground. Even the Dementors were consumed by the cursed fire.

**ALM**

Once the wards were dropped, Moody along with Lefty and his friends arrived in front of the small army. At the same time, a large group of Aurors appeared led by Amelia Bones. She immediately recognized the people standing there. "What happened here? The magical detectors were off the scale."

Moody growled out. "That's what we were about to find out. Seems Junior here took matters in his own hands."

Amelia turned and glared at Harry. "Is that so?"

After just facing Tom, Harry was not cowed in the least. "All of you shot down every plan I came up with. I wanted this over so I found some other people who were willing to help."

She sputtered. "But you could have died."

Harry nodded. "And you know as well as I do that was always a possibility. It had to end before he killed anyone else so I only did what I had to."

Still not satisfied that she was getting reaction from him, she aimed below the belt. "How would Susan have felt to hear that you were dead in some foolish attack?"

"It wasn't foolish and she knew it was coming soon as she was the _only_ one who supported me in this. In fact, she told me to end it sooner rather than later and I did."

She sputtered again but before she could say anything, Moody cut her off. "So it's done then?"

Harry nodded and threw the bag to the ground between them. He then waved his wand causing the bag to open showing the head of Lord Voldemort. "Yeah Pops. It's done."

Lefty piped up. "What about the last? As far as I know it's still sitting on that shelf."

Harry chuckled. "Transfigured copy. It met the same fate at his head. The Sword of Gryffindor made short work of both."

Amelia regained her speech. "Be that as it may...we will need statements from you."

Harry snorted. "About what Aunt Amelia? What hard evidence do you have implicating me in all this?"

Amelia shot Harry a glare. "Your testimony should suffice."

Harry snorted. "First off...Fudge made sure the entire world thought I was unstable before I was _killed_. Besides, since the Ministry declared me dead, that means you are talking to either a ghost or an apparition. Neither of which are allowed to give testimony because they can't be influenced by Veritaserum or can they make oaths on their magic or lives."

Amelia sputtered. "That can easily be overturned young man. In fact, I won't allow my niece to date a dead man."

Harry smirked. "It can be but only with my consent and I don't think I'll consent to it anytime before Christmas. As far as Susan dating me...I'll be sure to pass along your orders. I'm sure she and her parents will appreciate it."

Amelia closed her eyes and spoke softly. "Harry...please."

He wanted to give her a hug to let her know he wasn't mad at her except for interfering with his plans but knew better as the crafty woman would have him in magic suppressing cuffs in a second just so she could get his statement.

Finally he asked. "Aunt Amelia...what is Moody's Rule #3?"

She automatically answered. "Take every advantage you can to survive each and every conflict."

Harry smiled. "Exactly! This is an advantage I will not give up for now as there is still work to be done. Your hands are tied Aunt Ami...mine and Pops are not. We are not above the law but have justice on our side. If it will help, I will declare vendetta against Dumbledore for being one of the causes of my parents' and godfather's deaths as the other three have already been taken care of. It is my hope that you will deal with Fudge for ordering my godfather's execution without a trial."

Amelia nodded and remained quiet lest she ruin the relationship they shared by pushing for him to give a statement. She looked up as Harry spoke again. "Aunt Ami...I'll answer your questions when the job is done. I know you have a job to do but so do I. It's time to remove the trash that has been holding our society down. If you want, I'll even exile myself from the country when it's all done."

Amelia looked into his eyes and saw the seriousness of his statement. She knew that Britain losing him would mean she would lose her niece as well. They all stood there in silence for a few minutes. The Aurors were waiting for orders as were the elves. Their kind Master Harry would be long gone before they even got close to him.

Moody asked. "So Junior, are you going to tell us about it before I have to box your ears?"

Harry smirked. "You think you can old man? Besides, you knew the plan. The only difference was you weren't included. As there is nothing to investigate and no evidence to show that I did anything, I think me and my little friends will be going now. After a little rest, I've got a major party to throw for them."

With that said, Dobby grabbed Harry's hand and popped away followed by the rest of the elves until all that was left was the Aurors, Moody, and Lefty and his crew.

Amelia turned to Moody. "Can you still track him?"

Moody snorted. "No...he dispelled them before the attack and none I just cast stuck to him."

Amelia frowned. "Damn you trained him too well."

Moody smirked. "I told ya tha apple don't fall far from the tree."

Amelia snorted. "If you can, find out who he got. I don't want him arrested but I'm a little pissed that he went off the reservation with this after we told him no."

Moody nodded. "I understand Amelia but it was always his fight and I'm rather proud of what he did and how well he covered his tracks."

Amelia cut him off. "He basically wiped the scene clean of any evidence implicating him."

Moody cut her off. "Think Amelia, without evidence, Fudge and Albus have nothing to go on or use against him. Besides...Harry Potter is dead."

Moody turned and looked at Lefty who nodded. All six of the older men disappeared in a portkey flash. For the rest of the night, they would be drinking toasts to Harry before preparing for the next stage of the clean up.

As the older men left, Amelia flashed a smirk of her own. "Not for long he isn't. The people will know who took care of the dark problem once again before Fudge and Albus try to claim any credit." She then turned to her Aurors. "What you have seen and heard remains top secret and classified. You secrecy oaths are in effect until I figure out how to release this information."

She got a multitude of "Yes Ma'ams or Yes Directors"

She looked out over what remained on the Malfoy Estate and sighed as a boy had saved them all again. "Let's go home. There's nothing to see or do here."

**ALM**

Harry and his four elves arrived in the living room of the house in Hogsmeade while the rest returned to wherever they came from. Harry plopped down on the couch and motioned for the others to take a seat which they reluctantly did.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm exhausted."

Winky spoke up. "Winky bes bringing Master Harry's things and putting them in the master bedroom this afternoon. It bes ready for you."

Harry smiled. "Thank you Winky. I want you guys to get some rest but I need Dobby to go give Susan the news. "

Dobby nodded and popped away. He sat there for a few minutes coming to terms with the fact that Tom was really gone and his life was almost his own. He then rose from the couch and made his way up the stairs. Once in the bedroom, he made his way over and fell onto the bed clothing and all. After a few minutes, he was sound asleep and Winky popped by to check on him. With a few snaps of her fingers, Harry was undressed and under the covers. She moved to the love seat in the room and crawled onto it to try and keep watch over Harry until Dobby returned.

Once Dobby returned, he found the other three elves sound asleep as well as Harry. Under normal circumstances, he would have been upset at his fellow elves for failing to watch over Harry but he couldn't fault them as all of them used an incredible amount of magical energy tonight and needed to replenish it. Once he was sure the house was secure and no one could find Harry, he crawled up onto the foot of Harry's bed and fell asleep as well.

**ALM**

After that day in the house, their connection had grown and she was starting to get tingles across it. She had been very anxious all evening and felt it had something to do with Harry so Susan was still up reading when Dobby popped behind the curtains of her four poster bed. She took one look at him and knew tonight had been the night.

"Is...is he still alive?"

Dobby quietly said. "Yes Miss Susan. Master Harry came out unharmed and is just tired. Dobby thinks Master Harry has already gone to bed by now. He sent Dobby so Miss Susan wouldn't worry."

Tears leaked from her eyes. "He really is okay?"

"Yes Miss Susan. Master Harry is fine and the evil one is no more."

"Thank Merlin...and of course you too Dobby. Thank you for always being there for Harry."

"Dobby only repays what Master Harry did for Dobby It can bes no other way. Dobby should go now Miss Susan. Dobby bes tired and needs rest as well." And with a 'pop' Dobby was gone. Tears of joy fell from Susan's eyes now that she knew Harry survived his date with the Dark Lord. A wave of calm settled over her even though she knew _her_ Harry was not done yet but at least she knew he would have proper backup this time as she would be there for the next confrontation.

**ALM**

After arriving back in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia once again reminded her Aurors that the secrecy oaths were in effect on the events of this night. After seeing their acknowledgment, she made her way to her office where she pulled out a bottle of Ogden's firewhiskey and set it and a glass on her desk. As she sat in her chair, she poured herself a large amount almost filling the glass. She took a large sip and leaned back in her chair to think.

She knew she already failed Harry just by what happened tonight. While she was angry that he went and did it without their help, she really should have expected nothing less as it was what he had always done. Now that Harry's adventures at Hogwarts had been disclosed to her, she should have expected Harry to do something like this as he had never truly had adult support in his life until he was informed of who his grandparents were. It was something of a sticky point as Minerva should have done more for Harry before and after he arrived at Hogwarts. She knew Minerva was under orders from Dumbledore but how could you allow things like that to happen to one of your own blood without intervening. She was also aware that she didn't know the whole story and only withheld her interrogation due to their long standing friendship as she knew she would hear the entire story when it was time.

Besides all that, Moody said Harry was much like him and Harry's raid tonight was exactly what Moody would have done...in his earlier years.

No, she wasn't angry at Harry so much as at herself and the other adults for not helping him. His plan was sound, as he demonstrated tonight, they just didn't like it. Maybe it was facing Tom that was the problem as no one in their right mind would go up against that monster. Except Harry. She could understand his motivation as Susan was a lovely girl and she knew from their letters that Susan was missing Harry terribly as well as Moody's reports that the young man in question wasn't much better.

She took another sip of the firewhiskey. She now thought about how she could help the young man. She in no way wanted to screw him over or interfere in his plans but she was looking at the bigger picture. Without Harry taking credit (she smirked...or the blame), Albus and Cornelius would try to swoop in and take credit for Tom's destruction and that was something she could not allow as it would give them a lot of support from the people who were staying neutral. They were political animals and would use any opportunity they could find to further cement their positions.

She saw no way for Harry to remain dead if she wanted to pull the rug from underneath both men but if he was revealed, it would create other problems. The first would be that Albus would move to try and get control over Harry once again. It was counter-able but not without revealing much more than several people wanted. Namely Moody and Minerva. Harry still being a minor worked against them in this respect as Albus was the last registered guardian for Harry.

She knew Albus had to go and she knew Harry planned to do something about him. Not only had he really messed up Harry's life, he had done a lot of damage to the country as well. His tenure as Chief Warlock saw her forces hampered in the way they could respond to threats. She had lost way too many good Aurors over the years because of Albus' pacifist policies. Of the once proud Auror force, she had very few warriors remaining. It's not that they were not capable...they were. It was they had been influenced by Albus for so long that they no longer knew how to truly get down and dirty and fight a serious threat. She saw it in many of their eyes tonight.

She sat for most of the night thinking. She knew she wouldn't be missed at home as there was no one there to miss her as after her husband was killed during the first war, she threw everything she had into the job. The only distraction she allowed herself was her niece Susan.

By the time morning came, she was still sitting at her desk thinking about all that happened over the years and especially last night. That a mere sixteen year old young man would put everything on the line to end the Tom's threat when most of the adults wouldn't life a wand made her embarrassed for herself and the society of Magical Britain as a whole. She could only draw one conclusion and that was to help Harry in any way she could but for that, she needed to talk to him.

Her eyes glanced up at the clock on the wall. To her it was easier to look at a clock than to cast the tempus spell especially if she was busy doing paperwork. As it was half past seven, she knew Susan would be up preparing to go to breakfast so she reached into her drawer as she had done numerous times over the years and pulled out a mirror. She took a deep breath and said "Susan Bones".

A minute later, Susan's face came into view and Amelia noticed she was talking as she was putting on her makeup. "Hello Auntie Amelia. I thought I might hear from you this morning."

Amelia smirked. "And why would that be Suuusan?"

Susan chuckled. There was no way as happy as she was this morning that anything, even an interrogation by her aunt, was going to dampen her spirit after the stress she went through the night before. "Ah...well I heard, from a very _reliable_ source, that a certain problem was dealt with."

"Ah...he's been in contact with you then?"

"Not directly...no. He sent me a message as he didn't want me to worry. I thought it was rather sweet."

Amelia rolled her eyes at her love-struck niece. "Can you get a message to him? I really need to speak with him yesterday. Tell him I'll even meet him on neutral ground."

Susan frowned and stopped applying her eye liner. "And WHY would you need to speak to him on neutral ground?"

This time it was Amelia who frowned. "He may or may not be upset with me at the moment. I just need to speak with him about his next steps and what I can do to help."

Susan gave her aunt a long look. It wasn't often that the interrogation techniques learned from her aunt would work on said mentor but she noticed Amelia shift a little in her seat from the intense scrutiny. "And why might he be upset at you?"

Amelia recovered from the stare realizing what her niece was doing. Somewhere in the back of her mind, her pride leaped for joy. "I might have tried to bring him in for questioning and to make a statement."

Susan's eyes narrowed. "Oh really? I can't imagine that went over very well. Is there anything else?"

This time Amelia's eyes looked away from her niece. In Susan's head, she did a fist pump but would never let her aunt see that as it would ruin her small triumph. "I...I may have threatened him with not allowing him to see you anymore."

Susan growled out. "Did you really?" Amelia winced as she was very familiar with that tone as she used it quite often. Her pride took another leap in joy at the strong witch Susan was turning into. "Hmm...I bet he didn't take your threat very well. Quite frankly, I'd like to see you try that as my parents absolutely love him and if that isn't enough, I like to see you stop me from seeing my fiance!"

Amelia was shocked. "Fiance?"

Susan blushed and smiled. "Well yes. I mean, he doesn't know it yet but that's only a formality at this point. He even bought me a...never mind."

"He bought you a ring?"

Susan waved her hand at the mirror like she wanted that thought to go away right now. "No...no...it wasn't that. At least I don't think he has...yet. So...I will contact him for you as long as you promise me that you aren't going to arrest him."

Amelia sighed in relief at finally getting what she was after in the first place. Especially after that conversation. "No Susie...I just want to talk."

"Okay...well so that he will show up...I'll swear on my virginity that he won't be arrested."

Amelia was shocked. "Your virginity? Susan...but..."

Susan smirked. "It's okay Auntie, even if I lose...I win so...Good Bye Auntie." The mirror went blank before Amelia could say anything. Back at Hogwarts, Susan was almost rolling on the floor in laughter at having pulled that on her aunt. Nothing was going to ruin her good mood.

**ALM**

At ten in the morning the next day, Harry appeared on the steps of Gringotts in the company of three elves. They followed him through the lobby and to the first available teller. He laid his vault key down on the counter. "I would like to inquire if a conference room is available for me to conduct some personal business this morning?"

Without even looking up or at the key, the teller responded. "Our conference rooms are intended for bank business. Not the personal business of any wizard who just walks in off the street. There are rooms at the Leaky Cauldron to serve your needs wizard. Next?"

Harry stood there for a half minute further annoying the teller. He finally spoke as he pulled his key back towards himself. "Alright then, if that is the way it is, I'd like to see Master Bearclaw immediately."

The goblin never looked up. "Master Bearclaw is too busy to see you at this time human so quit wasting my time."

Harry was in shock at his treatment but held his tongue. As he turned to walk away, he softly said. "As you wish Master Teller." He was confused by how he was being treated. Except for Bearclaw, the Goblins weren't overly friendly but weren't actively hostile towards him. He made his way towards the door and made his way outside. As he walked down the steps of the bank, he spoke to the three elves that accompanied him. "Any idea what that was about?"

He heard "No Master Harry" three times.

Harry frowned. "I don't have time to deal with that right now so we'll go with Plan C. Dobby, take me to Sirius' cave. Slappy, go get Moody and bring him there. Spanky, you go get Amelia. Once we are there, you three circle me in case she tries to take me in. Susan says she won't but you know I don't much trust the Ministry or just about anyone other than you guys."

Dobby grabbed his hand and popped away just as the other two did. A second later, Bearclaw stepped out on the steps looking for his client. When he didn't see Harry anywhere, he stomped back into the lobby. He had been alerted that Harry was in the bank as his magical signature triggered an alarm in Bearclaw's office. A rune on his desk also alerted him that he was personally asked for. As he was not notified by a teller, he grew curious and made his way to the lobby and barely caught a glimpse of Harry walking out of the bank as he entered.

Bearclaw stormed to the Head Teller. He snarled out. "Which one of your staff failed to inform me that my client asked for a meeting with me?"

The Head Teller looked stunned. "I do not know Master Bearclaw but I will find out."

"See that you do or you will find yourself mucking out the dragon pits by morning."

Bearclaw made his way back to his office and began writing a letter to Harry.

**ALM**

Slappy appeared outside the door to Moody's house and knocked. He wasn't crazy enough to pop in on Moody and risk being killed. Moody answered the door. "What do you want?"

"Master Harry bes meeting with Madam Bonesy right away and asked Slappy to bring yous to him."

Moody stared at him for a second but the elf didn't waver. "Alright...lemme get my coat."

When they appeared, Moody had his wand in his hand and did a quick glance around him. "Junior...what's this all about?"

"Susan contacted me saying Amelia wanted to talk to me. I figured you'd better be here. She said something about my next steps."

"You gonna let me in on this one?"

Harry sighed. "It's up to you pops. You know who is next."

Moody nodded. A second later, Spanky appeared with Amelia. She took a look around and asked. "Where are we?"

Pointing in one direction and then another, Harry replied. "Hogwarts is over there and Hogsmeade is over there. This was where my godfather hid out from your Dementors during my third year before he was murdered by the Ministry."

Amelia winced but didn't try to make excuses. Harry stared at her for a minute seeing she wasn't going to say anything. "He was innocent you know but your wonderful Ministry couldn't be arsed to try and find the truth even though I reported it to Dumbass and the Fudgepacker."

"I am sorry Harry. It wasn't one of our better moments."

Harry snorted. "I haven't seen many shining examples personally. It makes me wonder why I fight to save _your_ society. Oh I know...for Susan and my family."

Amelia nodded as she understood all he was saying. "What about your friends?"

Harry snorted again. "What friends? Ask Susan how many friends I had that last year at Hogwarts. I can just guess what she'll say."

Amelia nodded again. This wasn't going how she expected and to be honest she really didn't know what to expect. "She has told me about some of your fourth year."

Harry then locked eyes with her. "Susan was always kind to me even when the rest of her house wasn't. Neville was there when he wasn't being bullied to stay away from me. If I were to say I had any friends, it would be those two and...Cedric. He had more reason than anyone to hate me but he didn't. He was hurt for being my friend. But we're not here to talk about my friendships or lack thereof. The main thing I wanted to talk about is that Tom was only part of the problem."

Moody finally spoke up. "We know son. That's why Amelia wants to talk. We need to know what your next move is."

Harry nodded but remained silent on that subject for now. "What do you want Amelia?"

She took a deep breath. "We've got to block Fudge or Dumbledore from taking credit for ending Tom's threat. Right now I have it under wraps but I don't know how long that will last."

"How do you plan to do that?"

Amelia sighed. "We need you alive Harry. I need you to agree to become undead so to speak. I can have it done without you but that means I have to go through the Mot. If I call a meeting to do that, everyone will know that something has changed as a large block will not be there. Fudge and or Dumbledore will be able to run roughshod over the whole meeting and have you declared either Albus' ward or the Ministry's. The magic involved could be used to force you to submit."

Harry looked at her for a long time before glancing at Moody. "How will that change if I'm alive? They'd be able to do the same thing."

This time she looked at Moody. "It could be avoided. Your grandfather could claim you therefore cutting their arguments off at the knees."

Moody nodded. "Aye...I could do that."

Amelia looked at Harry hopefully. "Then we'll do that then?"

Harry stood and walked over to look out over the scenery. Finally he said. "A dead man can't be prosecuted. A live one can."

Amelia softly said. "You declare vendetta for actions taken against yourself and your house. Under the old laws, you cannot be prosecuted if your reasons are justified. We need to get your story out there and tell everyone what you did."

Harry nodded. "I only won against Tom because he didn't know I was coming and I caught him off guard. They'd know I was coming for them this way."

Moody stepped forward and placed his hand on his grandson's shoulder. "Aye but I'll be there with you and I think you'd have more wands than you think on your side if the truth was told."

Harry stared out at the scenery for a few more minutes as he thought things through. He finally spoke again. "I'm going to kill Albus Dumbledore along with most of the Weasleys. I'll probably go after Fudge too if you don't get rid of him first. If I have to, I'll take care of the and then leave the country. The Potter and Black families have enough properties around the world that I'd always have somewhere to live even if on the run." Harry's mind was on the secret island owned by the Blacks that Bearclaw revealed to him. He pushed away the thoughts of Susan running around in a bikini or even naked on their own private island as now was not the time.

Amelia sighed. "I can live with that as long as it's done under an announced vendetta but I'd prefer you to leave Fudge to me. Even with the vendetta, he is our head of state and an assassination would not be accepted too well."

Harry stood there for another minute. "Have your article written."

Amelia let out a deep breath. "Thank you Harry. I will do everything in my power to not let you down."

Harry chuckled. "I hope not. I don't think Susan would take it to well if her favorite aunt was added to my list."

Amelia nodded as although his threat was done in a tone of jest, this young man was not someone you wanted to cross and that was a list she did not want to be on. Being on Tom's was bad enough. She then pulled out a piece of parchment. "Will you sign here? I can then quietly have your death declaration overturned."

"Who will see it?"

"I have a clerk who will be very discrete and slip it into your file so unless someone requests your file, no one should know. As it is, your file has been sealed for years so that shouldn't be a problem."

Harry nodded and then stepped over to take the quill she offered and signed the paper. Once that was done, she pulled out another piece of parchment and gestured to Moody. He stomped over and read over it. Using his own quill, he signed the declaration of guardianship of his grandson. They all knew as soon as the article was published, the cat would be out of the bag and everyone would know Harry was alive. The sealed file on Harry would make no difference at that point and by claiming him as his grandson, Moody was effectively blocking any and all attempts to take control over Harry.

Moody looked at Harry and then nodded. "It is as it should have always been. For what it's worth, I'm sorry my actions caused so many problems so long ago."

"I know pop. We already covered that years ago. I'll come by later so we can have that talk you've been wanting to have since the other night."

Moody snorted. "No need. I understand and would have done the same thing. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks pop."

Amelia smiled. "Me too Harry. I didn't like it at first but I understand why you did it and I apologize for my threat that night. I couldn't ask for a better man for my Susan."

Harry mock pouted. "I guess that means you aren't going to arrest me? Susan will be so disappointed."

Amelia threw her head back and roared in laughter and then grabbed him in a hug.

When they broke apart, she asked. "So just what was it that you bought Susan?"

Moody snorted and then disappeared back to his house. Harry looked at her and replied. "I think we'd like to keep that a secret for now. How about I tell you after Christmas sometime?"

Before she could say anything, Harry disappeared. It wasn't like she was going to prosecute him for apparating at his age since she gave him the license. She just shook her head and thought about her office and disappeared. As she appeared and walked to her chair, she thought that maybe things might work out.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: Hey everyone. Sorry it's taken so long but this chapter did not want to be written. I've deleted it several times and started over but I could never find something I was completely happy with. So instead of remaining stuck and agonizing over it for another 6-8 weeks, I'm going to give you this short chapter and begin to wrap this story up. I'm guessing it'll only take another chapter or two before it's finished.

Chapter 11

Two days after their meeting, Amelia had everything in place concerning Harry's 'living' status as well as his guardianship. When the official from child services looked to see who was being given guardianship, her eyebrows rose. That was until Amelia pointed at who the minor was and his relation to the guardian. In worked in Amelia's favor that Dumbledore had steamrolled over their authority in Harry's case ever since his parents were murdered as he blocked their every move in investigating anything about the living arrangements of the now young man. With a little grin at getting one over on the old meddler, Madam Crenshaw couldn't sign and approve the papers fast enough. With Amelia signing off on them too, anyone and everyone was effectively blocked from interfering in Harry's life ever again.

The first week of November saw Harry pretty much doing the same thing he had been doing for the last several years...laying low. He spent most of his time going back and forth between his and Moody's house. As Harry didn't plan to be in that house past his majority, he forewent customizing the Hogsmeade house to his needs and instead traveled to his grandfather's house and used the the training facilities there to remain in top form. Now that Tom was finished, Moody began training Harry in how to take down Albus. If anyone knew Albus' fighting style, it was Moody as before the revelations of the life Harry had before Hogwarts and during, they were friends and allies for many years and had fought side-by-side on many occasions.

On the third morning after the meeting, Harry joined Moody and Lefty for breakfast as they has some things to go over with him. During Harry's education, Lefty tutored him in Runes and Arithmancy and discovered Harry was a natural in the subjects so part of the reason he was there that morning was to leave some of his old curse breaking training texts to see if it was something Harry might want to do. Moody, Minerva, Poppy, and Lefty were all confident that Harry could be anything he wanted due to his intelligence and talent with magic so they were giving him as many options as possible. It was already decided that they would steer him away from becoming an Auror as Moody didn't want the same life for Harry that he led.

As they were having their normal grousing session about the world at large, an owl delivered Moody's copy of the Prophet. As soon as he unfolded it, the large headline grabbed his attention.

DARK LORD DESTROYED BY THE BOY-WHO-STILL-LIVES

Moody read the article and nodded along. Amelia did an excellent job with it and effectively blocked Fudge or Dumbledore from taking any credit. On the other hand, a crap storm was about to hit Magical Britain.

He folded the paper back over and slid it to Harry. "You might wanna take a look at the headline this morning Junior."

Harry opened the paper and his eyes grew wide at the headline. He then began reading it and nodded along just like Moody did. When he was done, he slid it to Lefty. He didn't say anything until Lefty was done.

"What do you think Junior?"

Harry smiled. "She did good Pops. Better than I expected."

"Aye"

Lefty asked. "So...Albus is next?"

Harry nodded.

Lefty grunted and then after thinking for a minute, replied. "You know he'll stay holed up in that castle don't you? It's his seat of power so to speak."

Moody snorted. "It ain't just his seat of power, as headmaster he draws some power from the castle itself. It'll be hard to take him down there."

Lefty nodded. "Not to mention his minions."

Harry nodded. "I know but as Pops said the other day, I'll have more support than we think among other things."

Lefty glanced over. "You gonna take him in the castle? What about the young uns there. They could be caught in the crossfire. Me grand-daughter is a firstie this year."

Harry gave Lefty a serious look. "They are the only reason I just don't go storming in there but I also need them as witnesses. If I wait until Christmas break to go after him, Other than Nana and Poppy, I don't have any backup or people who will tell the real story."

Moody snorted. "Plus you want to catch the Weasleys at the same time."

Harry smirked. "There's that too. But...well...did I ever tell you how I cut off Tom's head?"

Moody shook his head. "I figured it was a diffindo."

This time Harry shook his head. "All those rituals, Tom was virtually magic proof. A severing curse would have barely left a mark."

Lefty asked. "Then how?"

Harry smirked again. "How'd I kill the basilisk?"

Moody chuckled. "Godric's sword? It came to you again? So that means you are..."

Harry smiled. "Yeah...the Heir of Gryffindor and maybe Slytherin. Bearclaw said something about Rights of Conquest after ending Tom for the final time but I haven't gone back to find out."

Lefty frowned. "What does having a bleeding vault have to do with it?"

Harry laughed. "There's not a vault...at least I don't think so and being his heir doesn't really mean much unless I need the sword or...am in Hogwarts. The Headmaster isn't the only one who can draw power from the castle. How do you think I survived all that crap when I was there? The castle protected me. It took me a while to figure it out but I always got a burst of power when I needed it there. I sometimes think the castle was still helping me in the graveyard but I don't know if it could help me that far away."

Moody nodded. "Wouldn't surprise me. You always said you felt unusually connected to the castle. My only concern is will it be enough? Albus ain't gonna be a pushover."

"I know Pops. That's why I think we need to stir the pot a little before going. Make him mad and reckless."

Lefty's eyebrows rose. "How so?"

Harry smirked. "Now that the cat is out of the bag, why not give my own interview. We still got a lot to clean up...we get the hornets stirred up and attacking anything and everything then while they are distracted, we move in and finally get rid of the problems."

Moody nodded. "Might work but it might make them more desperate and desperate is dangerous."

Harry nodded. "True...maybe you could have Amelia come over. She's more in tune with the politics side of all this. I would welcome her advice as we help her clean out the rest of the garbage."

Moody gave an evil grin which for him was smiling gleefully. "I'll call the lass and set it up."

"Thanks Pop."

**ALM**

Two days later, Amelia, Harry, Moody, and Lefty were meeting for lunch at Moody's house. With Amelia's limited time, they chose to work as they were eating instead of following the traditional customs of holding all business until they were fed. It worked better for the group as all of them were more direct in how they dealt with others and had little time for beating around the bush. They were polite enough to allow Amelia to open the discussion.

"So...Alastor said you wanted my opinion on something."

Lefty snorted while Moody grinned. "Yeah Aunt Amy." Her eyebrows rose at that for the double meaning it contained. The first was that it probably would be how he would have referred to her if James and Lily had survived that night all those years ago. And while she was several years older than James, Sirius, and Lily, they all had grown close during the men's Auror training. The other meaning dealt mainly with his relationship with Susan. She was well aware that Susan was considering their relationship to be long term and had even stated that Harry was starting to act the same way. Despite all he had been through, Amelia knew Harry and Susan would have a happy life together as they complimented each other. She was also aware that Harry told Susan more than he revealed to anyone else, even his grandfather and she knew how close they were.

"Now that we've got Tom out of the way, it's time to get rid of two more problems. I think if we were to go after them outright, there would be a lot of backlash from the public. I know we've pretty much cut Fudge's legs out from underneath him by eliminating his supporters but Albus is a different matter. Too many people think the sun shines out of his arse for us not to have people after our blood for removing him."

Amelia nodded. "You're right on both counts. Fudge is floundering and turning to Dumbledore for advice and support. I'd say that the only reason he is still in office is because of Albus, so to me the main problem is getting rid of Albus."

Harry nodded. "I know it's gonna have to be done the hard way as Albus probably won't leave the castle if he feels threatened. According to Pops and Nana, he'll probably try and mobilize his Order to come to his defense as well. I'd even imagine him saying something like Tom's not really dead or some such rot and try and say I was the bigger threat now."

Moody snorted. "He'll push for custody of Junior to try and bring him back to the 'light'."

Harry nodded. "Which puts you at risk Pops."

Moody nodded. "That was always the case Junior."

Amelia sat back and frowned. "Then you need to declare who gets custody of Harry should something happen to you. Under normal circumstances, I would say Minerva but she's in a precarious position already with her position at Hogwarts. The only other option would be to wait until Harry reaches majority."

Harry nodded and sat silently for a minute before his eyes glanced at Lefty and then Amelia. "I don't think the country can wait that long and I sure as hell aren't going to put Susan on hold that long. It's not fair to her to be sneaking around like we have to now."

Amelia's eyes rose at that. "Sneaking around?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Nothing like that Aunt Amy. She's happy with our relationship but it's hard on her not to be able to talk about her boyfriend or even admit who I am. And quite frankly, I'm tired of having to hide from everyone. Not only that, who wouldn't want to tell their friends that they landed the boy-who-still-lives and kicks arse while doing it."

Amelia snorted and threw her napkin at Harry as he chuckled. After a moment he said, "But really Aunt Amy...I don't want her to regret choosing me."

Amelia nodded. "I see your point and agree with most of it." She threw him a smirk afterwards. "So what do you have in mind?"

Harry took deep breath. "I could do an interview."

Amelia snorted. "I imagine during this interview, you would make you opinions about certain people well known?"

"Um...yeah!"

She snorted. "I'll agree it'll probably go a long way to achieving your goals. With your popularity right now after getting rid of Tom, people would listen to what you had to say but you'll have to tell them everything in the process."

Harry nodded. "I realize this."

She continued. "It will put certain people in more danger. You might want to leave Minerva and Poppy out of it for now. Susan too for that matter because when you do make your move on Albus, you'll want to have hidden resources."

Moody growled out. "A wise precaution and one we already considered. As far as the custody issue, we already decided it would have to be you if you'll agree. You're the only one of those we trust with enough political power to stand against them."

Lefty added. "We considered me taking it but the only way I could protect Harry would be to leave the country. The two problems with that are the lad won't leave his lass and it would put my grandchildren at risk."

Amelia sat quietly for a minute. "Harry?"

Harry sighed. "It's not something I really like. I don't like the fact that I can kill a Dark Lord and still have to hide behind your robes if something happens to Pop. I mean I pretty much take care of myself and only come here to train now but I also understand that until I hit seventeen, there are those who could try and get control of me. Dumb ass did it when my parents died already so he could use the same illegal means to try and become my guardian again but who knows what he would do to me to try and get me to sign over my estate during that time."

The adults nodded at his statement. Despite the uselessness of James and Lily's death, they did have the good sense to lock everything down until Harry was of age. Thanks to those precautions, Albus Dumbledore did not have any control over the Potter estate as it was all left in Bearclaw's custody as the account manager. Over the years since James and Lily's deaths, Bearclaw had refused Albus' demands for gold and access at least once a year. After Harry's third year, that increased to thrice a year due to Harry inheriting the Black estate as Sirius' only heir due to his status as Sirius' godson.

"Okay, since that's pretty much settled and will be dealt with quickly?" He shot glance at Moody who gave a quick nod despite the uncomfortable feeling it gave all of them.

Moody growled out. "We'll take care of it tomorrow."

Harry leaned back in his chair and then looked at Amelia. "Set up the interview. Preferably not Skeeter."

Amelia snorted. "I don't know Harry. She would make it a story to remember."

Harry grinned. "Oh...I'm sure she would but I don't trust her not to put some kind of slant on it that would end up making me look bad."

**ALM**

While all this was going on, Susan and Harry were still exchanging letters daily and he was sounding her out on how much he should reveal in his upcoming interview. She seemed to share his opinion on a lot of things and even suggested he expose the Weasley betrayal. In her opinion, taking out the trash meant destroying every bit of credibility any of the so-called 'light' had especially since the dark faction was all but destroyed.

As ideas were floated back and forth between them, it was decided that once all this was over, the Bones, Potter, and Black families would be joining the Greengrass family in the neutral faction. Mr. Greengrass' previous efforts in the Wizengamot assured Harry that they were like minded and it didn't hurt that Susan and Daphne had known each other since they were little and could vouch for them to her boyfriend. Once the 'Light' lord was removed, both felt that life in Magical England could only get better for everyone. Not just Harry and by association Susan.

**ALM**

Several days later, a lone reporter was making his way along Charing Cross road to an office building several blocks away from the Leaky Cauldron. The building was owned by Gringotts and they allowed Harry to lease the office suite for one day. As with any Gringotts property, the building had immense wards that didn't allow magical transportation and also didn't allow offensive spells to be cast. To Harry it was just what he was looking for as a neutral meeting place as Amelia already informed him that the Minister and Albus were searching for him.

For Harry, the rent was money well spent as he spent all afternoon with the reporter and covered many topics. Some of which would shock the Wizarding world to it's core as Harry began to bring pressure on several leaders of the establishment in an effort to erode their support and open the path to removing them permanently. The only requirement Harry made for the interview was the right to read the article before it went to press and make any changes he felt were necessary. With a story this big, the reporter didn't hesitate.

**ALM**

It took a week of back and forth between Harry and the reporter, sometimes due to the fact that he was waiting on advice from Susan and the others, but the story was finally ready and was going to the presses for their next issue. Once it was in the hands of the readers, their ideas of his life would never be the same. It would also change their opinions about many well-known people in magical England.

At the head table in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore had a feeling of dread as he opened the paper and saw the headlines. Several others would also see their reputations tarnished by the article and some would even contemplate silencing the young man permanently to stop any legal efforts that might be brought against them that is if they could find him. The headline alone would draw everyone to read this edition and with the truth being so plainly laid out, many reputations would be destroyed along with the influence many had built over the years. In all honesty, Albus could plainly see what was happening here. Now that the dark faction was gone, Harry was turning his attention to the light faction and those in the Ministry who had allowed harm to come to Harry. Albus knew six months ago that things were changing as many of those who were on the fringes of the factions made a deliberate move towards the neutral faction. It had even damaged some of his plans as he lost votes he was counting on.

Now that he knew who was behind it, he would start making moves to regain control over his wayward pawn. His eyes moved back to the headline before he sat back in thought on how to accomplish his goals.

 _The Dark Disguised as Light_

 _A Boy-Who-Still-Lives Tells All_

 _By Jake Waters_

The article began on page one and continued on the second page. Throughout the article, numerous claims were made against Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, the Weasley family minus Fred and George, Cornelius Fudge, and whoever else he could prove had wronged him. The list was long and very specific for each individual he claimed to be wronged by even going as far as swearing he could back up each and every claim with Pensieve evidence. The article also claimed that Harry stated that if it hadn't been for his maternal grandfather, Harry would be a mindless husk who was enslaved to Dumbledore along with the Weasley family who planned to potion him until he signed over the Potter and Black estates to them.

Before the article was finished, Harry claimed the kill of Severus Snape for acts against his family. He also named Molly, Ronald, and Ginevra Weasley as blood-traitors to the Potter-Black family for the potions and charms cast upon Hermione Granger with the intention of breaking the bond they shared.

In the last paragraph of the article, Harry claimed that his focus was now on removing the so-called light faction, especially its leaders, so that their society could move forward and recover from the influence of two dark lords.

**ALM**

As the article was making waves for everyone named in it, Harry was planning for every eventuality and was meeting with several people to help make sure the assets of the Potter and Black families did not fall into the hands of the traitors should he fall in the next confrontation. He knew Albus would be a formidable opponent at Hogwarts even with Harry's ancestry.


End file.
